Too Good To be True
by SoulKeeper1729
Summary: After Voldemort casts the killing curse on Harry in the Forbidden Forest, Death gives Harry the opportunity to go back in time. Without much of a second thought, Harry agrees to Death's terms without reading the contract. As Harry finds out, when something sounds too good to be true... Time Travel with a twist. First fanfic.
1. Prologue

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**Prologue**

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**A/N: I will not say too much right now on the course which the story will take, but it will definitely not be one where Harry becomes Godlike and destroys everyone. Yes, he will travel back in time, and he will be able to redo / change things, but there is a big twist, half of which is revealed here in the prologue but a much more disturbing half will be in the first chapter. Read and Review~**

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-~ P.1 ~-

As he awaited his fate, Harry Potter shut his eyes and inwardly smiled; one's life does seem to flash before him before death. However, rather than the more pleasant moments in his life, its seemed only the more memorable times flashed before him. He sighed, thinking of everything that he has been through, hoping that Fate will be kinder to him in his next great adventure, if such a thing exists. He then thought of hope after his passing: Lord Voldemort would be one step closer to mortality, and he hung onto hope that Ron and/or Hermione will finish the job. He then wondered why he was not dead yet, and risked opening one eye, only to see Voldemort yet to raise his wand. He was busy gloating on his imminent success and building up to a dramatic point where he will presumably cast the Killing Curse. Typical. He once more firmly shut both eyes, and then wondered why he thought it was a risk opening one of his eyes in the first instance. It seemed that his emerald green eyes had a mind of its own, and its welfare surpasses even his own life. Before he could process any further thoughts, he heard the fated words: _Avada Kedavra_. Though shut, his eyes saw a blinding flash of green.

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-~ P.2 ~-

_Harry felt trapped. His location was impossible to describe visually. It seemed devoid of all colours yet he was sure of the existence of his surroundings. In whichever direction he ran, and however fast he ran towards them, the four walls containing him seemed to be equally out of his reach. They moved with him, yet they did not. At the same time, he felt an indescribable pressure on his whole body. With each passing second the pressure grew, like constriction by a snake, yet he felt no physical exertion or pain. Then the walls seemed to be caving in towards him, at the same time it was slowly morphing into what looked like a portal. He realised that he had once seen something similar, and he was overcome by the memory of Sirius going through the veil. As the portals looked more and more like the Veil and converged in on him from all sides, leaving Harry out of options and out of time, he did the only thing he could think of, however uncharacteristic. He screamed._

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-~ P.3 ~-

Harry Potter awoke with a start. His surroundings still seemed to be rather indefinable, only pure white. Taking a moment to clear his head after his nightmare, he checked himself over. He still felt a small pressure on his chest, but other than that he seemed intact. It was at that point that everything that occurred at the Forbidden Forest came back to him. Was he dead? Where was he? What happens now? Did he just pass through the veil? Was he in the afterlife?

"Not yet. Nowhere. Depends. No, but something similar, and No"

The voice shook Harry, it was almost as if it was spoken into his mind, yet he was sure he heard a voice. He looked around, only to see the same pure white, and deducted that it was impossible to determine the direction from which the voice came, as it could not have been spoken. He then realised the voice was answering this thoughts. Wishing that whoever the voice belonged to showed himself, he called out "Who are you?"

A shadow appeared in front of him, even though no figure could be seen or light source to be found. Harry wished that whatever it was, it will stop playing games. He has had enough of unhelpful half answers from Dumbledore, however much he respected that man. Then he looked at the shadow again, and it dawned on him that he could recognise the shadow. It was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, which Xenophilius Lovegood had showed him, in what seemed to be a lifetime ago. Deducting further, he continued: "So you are Death? I rather expected a hooded skeletal figure with a scythe."

"Very well." And instantly such a figure came into existence. Death inwardly smiled. He has waited a long long time for this opportunity, and could not be happier that his subject chose such a stereotypical figure.

Harry staggered back a step at the sudden appearance of the figure, though strangely he was not surprised. _Guess dying has that effect on you_, he thought. Then a thousand more questions flooded into his mind. Does everyone meet Death when they are about to die? What exactly is this place? He then thought of the Hallows: He had two of the three Deathly Hallows in his possession, but the Elder Wand was clearly in Voldemort's hand, so what does that mean?

"So many questions," said the figure, smiling. "I am Death and this is my domain. Here I can appear in any way, shape or form. And yes, the story of the three Peverell brothers is mostly true. The power of the Hallows, however, has always existed if one knew how to access them. I merely concentrated the magic into three items, and ensured that the power within will not wane in time. As I said to your mind before, you are not dead yet. In fact you are not even dying, though that may change soon. And this is indeed nowhere. Why else will it be blank?"

"Well, I thought if there was nothing it would be pitch black." came Harry's reply. He then cursed himself. If his time here was limited he should not be wasting away on such a conversation remembering Death said was that he was not dead _yet_.

"An interesting concept indeed. Time passes here, though it passes in its own way. And all three of the Hallows do indeed have you, Harry James Potter, as their master. There are two reasons why the Elder wand belongs to you, though I will not elaborate why now." Rather, Death did not really want to.

Harry pondered on this. Does that mean he is the Master of Death? Does that mean he can live again? Does that give him the power to defeat Voldemort? Indeed, is this the power that 'the Dark Lord knows not'?

"Where do you want to start?" Death interrupted his thoughts. He did not want to spend all day on this. Besides, the less time the boy has to think clearly, the better.

_Where indeed_, thought Harry. Realising he could not sit idly and think, he started with his most pressing concern: "Exactly how much time do I have?"

"Five minutes" Death easily lied. The fact that he had no facial features made this infinitely easier. His plan has now come into motion. "You, in the physical world, are still lying face down in the Forbidden Forest. Right at this moment, Narcissa Malfoy is going to examine whether you are still alive. Once she determines you are still alive, well, you probably will not live much longer. That process takes about a minute, which is multiplied by thirteen in this realm due to its Arithmantic properties. Minus the eight or so minutes in your nightmare and our conversation up to now, you have around five minutes left.

Harry took this in, and Death continued: "As the Elder wand belongs to you, Voldemort's killing curse did not destroy your soul. In fact it destroyed his own soul; his Horcrux which has been in you since the day your parents died. Of course, I know that was your initial intention anyway. Incidentally, any other fatal curse would have in fact been fatal, of course. Now, pay attention." Harry immediately straightened hearing this. "You have a choice now. You can regain your consciousness as you are now and try and wriggle your way out of the mess you are in. Or, with the power of the Hallows, I can send you back in time."

Harry leaped in excitement. "Time travel? Really? How?" Harry had long thought of the infinite possibilities if he could go back and change time. He could go save everyone that ever died, starting with Cedric. He could save Sirius, even get him away from Azkaban and the Dementors earlier. If he could go back with the knowledge he already has, he could even start early on the Horcruxes, and possibly even destroy Voldemort before he is resurrected. Time travel has always been one of his dreams, and, before today, has only ever remained in his dreams. Well, in fact he is still a little unsure if he is in one. The closest thing he has encountered to it is Time Turners. However, Time Turners do not allow one to change the past, only allows one to be in two places at the same time. In fact, as he learned from Hermione, attempting to change the past with them only creates the past. Any forced attempt otherwise creates a paradox, wiping your existence.

"Indeed you can." Death replied to his thoughts. "Voldemort would in fact be easier to defeat as you yourself are no longer a Horcrux. Now, to details. The only time I can send you back to was when you first encountered one of the Deathly Hallows. All subsequent events will be rewritten; they would never occur. The world you leave behind will cease to exist." _Partially true, _thought Death.

"Okay send me back now!" Harry instantly replied, his excitement in his voice evident.

"You still have just under three and a half minutes, no need to rush." replied Death. He continued: "The possession of the Deathly Hallows means you are the Master of Death, and as long as you are in possession of at least one of these items, I can seek you out while you are unconscious. If you wish to speak to me, wish it before you sleep and I may come. Of course to access my domain you will need to force your mind and body into the portal, like in your nightmare before. Additionally, being Master of Death means one's magical core is multiplied by seven. Any spells you cast are seven times as powerful: a standard _Bombarda _spell, for example, would have seven times more energy. Of course, that does not make you seven times more powerful, as that is a combination of knowledge, experience, magical power and other factors. You will not be able to travel back in time again if you fail your task: this is a onetime only ability for the Master of Death. In fact, possession of the Hallows does not otherwise grant you any ability to manipulate time, however small. Once you go back, it is also not reversible."

"So that will take me to Christmas during my first year at Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"Of course, I just said that" Death snapped. Children and their never ending need for confirmation.

"Why are you helping me?" asked Harry. What he heard had just sounded good. In fact, it almost feels it is too good to be true, especially that Death was supposedly, well, trying to kill everyone.

"If I killed all humans I will also cease to exist, so you need not worry. I am helping because you are the Master of Death. And, as any true Master of Death knows, everyone must accept that death is their ultimate fate, hence I do not like it when wizards try to bypass it. Horcruxes are both evil and unnatural, so naturally I will help anyone who is willing to get rid of Voldemort. Speaking of which, I must warn you that though Voldemort is narcissistic, he is a genius. Seven Horcruxes is in fact the perfect number of Horcruxes, better than three as it also increases his magical core significantly. Though now as he can will the air around him so he can fly unaided, I believe thirteen Horcruxes will serve him even better, but that's another story." Death was truthful in this case, though it has brought him closer to the time limit he imposed himself, and has erased any doubts from Harry's mind that he could be tricked.

"I am now ready to send you back. However, there are complications. Time is not something which can be easily mastered. Hence there is a small chance that sending you back will fail, in which case you die. In that case, my condolences. Because of this I need you to sign this magical contract that you accept payment and all consequences of this action. You must sign here with this." Death handed to Harry the magical contract and a quill which just appeared in his skeletal hands, pointing to the line on the third and final page of the magical contract. Under the line was his name Harry James Potter, and adjacent to it was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, with the single word 'Death' below it.

Harry looked at the quill and unhappy memories of Umbridge flooded him. "Is this a –"

"Yes it's a blood quill. You have fifty three seconds before you return to consciousness and the mercy of the Death Eaters surrounding you. Forty seven now."

Harry hurriedly signed his name with the blood quill and handed it back to Death, feeling a short sharp pain in his hand. He then realised he did not even read over the contract. Well, he thought, worst case scenario I die, and I have already prepared for that eventuality just ten minutes ago.

"Good luck Harry Potter. Remember, going back in time does not mean all previous events you experienced will happen. It will be in the exact universe you were in, but one small change in your actions can have a huge impact on the result. In fact, as you are already different, it is a mathematical certainty that events will turn out to be different, though it is likely that many small differences you will never notice. Nature of the world I am afraid, it is chaotic. I will also leave you a note which you will need to read carefully." With that, Death's skeletal hand reached out to Harry and he disappeared from Death's realm.

_Well, that was easy,_ thought Death. _Guess that's what happens when a child masters the Hallows._ He then turned to his magical contract in glee. Turns out his ill-fated gamble all those years ago was not so bad after all. He turned the newly acquired item in his hands and looked it over. It felt good to have it back. Finally, his mind went back to the world currently in limbo, and will remain forever in limbo. He had over seven billion souls to feed on, it will keep him occupied for quite a while…

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**Last update for chapter: 24/01/2015**

**Next Chapter Preview: Death's Contract.**


	2. Chapter One - Death's Demands

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**Chapter One - Death's Demands  
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-~ 1.1 ~-

Being forcibly pushed from Death's domain did not feel pleasant. However, given the things he had gone through; it did not feel too bad either. The next thing he noticed was that he no longer felt a pressure on his chest, and that he was in a bed. He did, however, have a headache. Feeling somewhat refreshed, he shot up from his bed and took in his surroundings.

_Okay, so I'm alive, not in the Forbidden Forest, so that's a start._ Harry looked around and saw that he was in the dormitories. In the faint light of the dormitories, Harry saw the faint red line of his signature on his hand. _Well not a dream then. Actually maybe still a dream. First year, by the looks of it. I really have travelled back in time! _ He thought. _If Death has done this right then today should be Christmas Day, the day I receive my Cloak of Invisibility, the first of the Hallows._

It was only when he stood up after moving off the bed did he realise that his physical body was back to when he was eleven. _Of course, duh. Time travel, after all. _Harry felt a wave of euphoria overcome him as the implications of travelling back in time came to him. He looked over and found his best friend snoring. Shaking his head, he suddenly found it almost unbelievable that the tiny red-head along with tiny him and tiny Hermione were able to get through first year pretty much unscathed. Well, not quite unscathed for him. With a sudden surge of excitement, Harry was halfway through the motions to go and wake up Ron when he stopped himself. _He is also eleven now, what in Merlin's name would I say to him if I woke him up?_

Harry forced himself to calm down as he thought things through. Tonight, in the old timeline, he would have gone and tried his invisibility cloak on and found the Mirror of Erised. He then remembered that the mirror contained the Philosopher's stone previously, though he was unsure if the mirror contained it right now. Curious for a brief moment on what the Mirror will show Harry now, he continued recalling events of his very first year at Hogwarts.

_Well, the troll has already been dealt with, so that leaves Quirrell and the stone as the main objective for this year. _Harry thought. _Of course, I should also start on training myself and making use of the time I have been given, as well as getting hold of that traitor Pettigrew and free Sirius Black. Maybe I can even start on the Horcruxes, though I must tread with care as I am only eleven now, and Horcruxes are extremely dangerous when tackled alone. Hmm, I wonder if I should tell anyone of my secret. Professor Dumbledore will believe me if I mention certain things to him and he will certainly be willing to help me, though he will probably be disturbed by it. In any case I will be able to save him, too. Oh - I was told by Death I am more magically powerful now. Hmm - well I can't exactly cast a Bombarda now, can I?  
_

Harry thought for a while, somewhat obsessed with the fact that he is potentially more powerful _Merlin, I am beginning to think like Lord Voldemort._ Then, grabbing his wand, he silently cast his first spell since traveling back in time, out of pure instinct due to the darkness of the room rather than anything else.

_Lumos_. With that thought, a light from the end of his wand lit up the room. _Hmm. Does not seem any brighter than normal, though I guess this may be a poor choice of spell to use as a test. In fact I am not even sure that luminosity increases with magical power, though I do believe my Wand-Lighting Charm did get brighter as I aged. In fact, how do you even start measuring luminosity?. _After a minute or two of further absent thoughts, Harry realised he was still lighting up the room, which was probably not so wise. Thankfully Ron was still sleeping soundly. _Nox_. Only then did he realise that he just casted silently with his old Holly wand. It felt good to have his old Holly wand back in his hand again. Since when his wand was broken in the previous timeline, he had felt that casting magic had been rather unnatural with other wands.

As Harry finished with his long train of thoughts, he remembered that Death said he would be given a note which he will need to read. Harry looked around the room before concluding that the most likely place would be in his trunk. Upon opening his trunk, he instantly found a few sheets of paper with two notes, one of which was the "Use it well" note from Dumbledore. The other was instantly recognisable as from Death, with the Deathly Hallows symbol on top. It read:  
**_"Attached is the magical contract you signed, and a simplified list of rules from the contract. Many thanks for the payment."_**

Harry was puzzled; what payment? He did not recollect Death asking for any payment. Admittedly, he was not in the most sharp of minds in Death's Realm, but surely anything regarding payment would have been mentioned clearly? He hadn't sold his soul, had he? Putting this thought to one side, he went to read the list.

**For Harry James Potter's eyes only**

**1\. You will be sent back in time to the 25th December 1991. It will be in the same universe, but it will of course branch out differently.** _Thats good._

**2\. The world you leave behind will belong to Death.** _Hmm I thought Death said it no longer existed. I'll ask about it later._**  
**

**3\. Payment for this service will be the first Hallow you encountered – the Cloak of Invisibility. This may be loaned back to you at Death's discretion.  
**_Oh crap. Well I guess its a price worth paying for time travel, and I still may have it loaned back to me. Guess that in fact it belonged to Death anyway... _

**4\. You will not be able to tell anyone that you have travelled back in time, or imply this directly, even through Veritaserum and/or Legilimency. Other individuals still may guess this, however. (Proof is impossible)** _That means I can't tell Dumbledore - oh well._**  
**

**5\. You will not be able to tell anyone you were the Master of Death. Note the past tense 'were', as the Cloak of Invisibility is no longer in your possession; you are no longer the Master of Death.** _Irrelevant. Wait...that means my magical power...oh well, can't have everything, can I?_**  
**

**6\. You will not be able to tell anyone of the fate of the Cloak of Invisibility.** _Again, Irrelevant.**  
**_

**7\. You will not be able to tell anyone of the existence of Death or Death's Realm. (Known as 'nowhere' to most mortals.)** _Really, 'nowhere'?_**  
**

**8\. The Philosopher's stone must be destroyed on or before 24th December 1992.** _What? I suppose it was destroyed in the previous timeline anyway.**  
**_

**9\. You must gain possession of the Elder Wand on or before 24th December 1992. **_What? From Dumbledore? _

**10\. You must kill at least one individual, restricted to Human or Human Magical, every year with the Elder Wand. You must therefore kill your first individual on or before 24th December, 1992. You are permitted to kill yourself with the Elder Wand. This rule ceases after your death. **_What what WHAAAAAAAT?_**  
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**11\. You will be unable to show or tell anyone any part of the contents of this list.**_**  
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**12\. You must ensure that while in your possession, none of the Hallows are destroyed; i.e. lose their functionality.**

**13\. Failure or any attempt to deliberately bypass any of the above rules results in the forfeiture of your life and the life of twelve individuals you unconsciously hold most dear. **_Oh f**k, Oh f**k, Oh F**********K!**  
**_

Harry swore under his breath, it was indeed too good to be true! He spent the next twenty minutes carefully reading each word of the magical contract, looking in vain for an escape clause. As it dawned on him that there was no way out, he began to think of the most pressing point on the contract: He must kill a person each year, with the Elder Wand no less! And then he thought of the fact that he did not even have possession of the Elder Want yet – Dumbledore has it. He has to find a way to gain control of the wand, from possibly one of the most powerful wizards on the planet – despite being only eleven. That's not even considering the fact that owning the Elder Wand itself is a dangerous act and bound to attract trouble if anyone finds out.

Harry thought back to the fact that Quirrell originally did die, mostly by wounds inflicted by him. He wondered if it would have originally counted if he had used the Elder Wand. That brought him back to the contract and Death, and he felt a rage build up inside him. He could not believe he was tricked so easily, though admittedly Death did play his cards very well. He suddenly realised that he had a lot of questions to ask Death, and that Death did say he may come when Harry wished it. Although knowing now that he had been tricked, with his luck the 'may' may as well be 'most probably will not'. He then wondered about Death's true motives. What did Death really want? Thinking back on the nickname of "Death Stick" given to the Elder Wand, he wondered on the origin of the nickname. He then pondered on what happens to those that die to it, as presumably something else occurs, or Death would not have been so specific demanding he kill with the Elder Wand.

_Maybe I will ask Death of his motives. He did say he did not want the whole Human race extinct, and that does make sense in a way….and as to the killing part, well, _thought Harry, _Guess I will have to find a way to cross the bridge when I come to it. Worst come to the worst, I will kill myself – after all I had expected to die, so I guess I have nothing to lose. Well, except for the fate of everyone else. Breaching in contract is of course out of the question.  
_

Casting a brief _Tempus _spell, he found it was now getting to midnight. Letting out an involuntary yawn, Harry found that his eleven year old self was rapidly tiring, and in need of rest. With his last thought as he tucked himself into bed, he wished himself back in Death's Domain before sleep overtook him.

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-~ 1.2 ~-

At the same time in the Headmaster's office, silver instruments of all shapes and sizes began to shake and whirl uncontrollably, waking the nearby portraits in alarm. As the instruments came closer to implosion, huge clouds of smoke and intense heat were emitted, melting the spindly tables on which they stood. It was only due to the charms around the room and the well-designed ventilation system which was in the past used for various Headmaster's misdemeanours, that these events were not discovered sooner. Indeed, it was only discovered when Dumbledore himself returned to this calamity nearly a week later. By then however, other events have been set in motion and the events of this universe are taking a vastly different turn…

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-~ 1.3 ~-

Unknown to Harry, he has also set off events half way across the world: in a secretive magical school standing in a remote mountain range above the clouds. Although much smaller than Hogwarts, the architecture was matching Hogwarts in quality, though very different in style. Designed by magical architects in eras before, it has since been maintained by the magicals at the school, preserving its original design almost to perfection. The local time there was not even six in the morning, yet a master and his student were already up studying the wonders of magic.

"Do you sense something master?"

The question was directed at an old man, his most noticeable feature being his pure white hair falling down past his shoulder. He had abruptly stood still while in the middle of explaining a particular rune to his student. He stroked his goatee before answering: "Difficult to say, but most likely a fool trying to change events that are already set in stone with a Time Turner. The wiping of their existence will create such a temporal disturbance. Though this does not happen often, as it is just 'one of those things', it is still intriguing that it - " The old man then hesitated.

"However…? That it what?" The younger of the two continued, sensing his Master had more to offer.

"Yes, there is an intriguing point to it. If I am correct in my senses, it seems that the disturbance came in the direction of magical Britain."

"The Wizarding War in Britain?" The student asked. He was clad in a blue shirt and grey trousers. His face was young, his features handsome, but his brown eyes betrayed the fact that he has seen much of the darker side of humanity.

"Yes, a second one will likely start. Britain has always been significant as it is believed to be the birthplace of Magic, and has the highest density of magicals. Though the Wizarding War has ended, I think Dumbledore does not believe Voldemort truly died. In fact he never even mentioned this in the International Confederation of Wizards. The temporal disturbance is most likely related to the War, mostly likely a follower of Voldemort attempting to change events. Either way, unless things escalate to beyond the borders of Europe, it will not be our concern."

"But as the saying goes, if we do not help others when they are in peril – "

"I know of your concern, young one. However, you must remember that I did personally interfere when Grindelwald rose to power. You must understand that there is no such thing as evil, or indeed good, just different opinions and views on how the world is run and what paradise is. I guess dark magic is associated with evil quite frequently, but I like to think of dark magic as magic which are not reversible as the counterspell either cannot exist, directly related to how division by zero produces no answers, or has yet to be discovered, but that is a topic of discussion for another time. In fact, in my heart of hearts, when I was younger I would have liked to rule over the world myself, and I would not have hesitated to destroy all that stands before me. In fact I still may be willing even now. After all, all great leaders in the past have not exactly been the perfect gentlemen. Or woman."

"A little history for you," the old man continued, "Grindelwald was in fact extremely dangerous as he allied himself with the non-magical community. Of course, during that time we had our own war front, but anyone with enough knowledge knew where the true danger lay. Dumbledore knew too, so in the end he had to put Grindelwald down, however unwilling he was. Of course, that duel was monitored carefully. If Grindelwald had overcome Dumbledore, plans would be set in motion to trap and kill Grindelwald. That is the case with extremely powerful wizards and witches I am afraid, you are carefully monitored by everyone else, and if you ever got too powerful or reckless, an alliance will form to terminate you. Dumbledore had in fact been the only reason Grindelwald was not killed earlier - he had been opposed to it, and only acted after the rest of us issued an ultimatum. That is why my dream of world domination will only ever remain a dream. In fact, the most dangerous individuals are often the ones who keep quiet and train armies in secret, much like us." He chucked, and continued: "back to magical Britain now. Voldemort is merely a revolutionary there, trying to control the magical community himself. Most of his allies were in Britain, his allies abroad were few and far between. The Wizarding War there is in reality a civil war, albeit a rather gruesome one. It matters not to us whether Dumbledore or Voldemort lead magical Britain, though of course Dumbledore is preferable, even if he has tendencies to manipulate things which should be outside his realm of control. He is respected with good reason, however."

The old man sat down to sip his cup of tea.

"Master, would you really kill if you had the opportunity to rule the world?" His student asked in disbelief.

"Of course." The old man swatted the question away as if it were a fly. "After all, I do believe I would make the world a better place, and a few sacrifices are nothing. However, that is just a 'what if', and will never become reality, and I am more than content to live the life that I lived. Back to the topic, the only issue I have with Voldemort is his fate. If he did indeed survive, the most pressing question would be how. There are many secrets in the magical world that we are not aware of, but the only ways I know to cheat death either involves extremely complicated rituals requiring months of preparation and very specific circumstances, soul magic which is rather inadvisable, or anchoring oneself in the world as a ghost or spirit, never able to regain corporeal form: an echo, much like a portrait, not one's true self. Even the Elixir of Life cannot return one from the dead - it only slows or stops the aging process for a limited time. However, it is evident that Dumbledore believes Voldemort will return fully from the dead, so it is either soul magic or an unknown method. Asking Dumbledore is of course out of the question, but one must realise that branches of magic dealing with death are often the most secretive, and most dangerous. After all, if an experiment goes wrong, you will not be able to repeat it."

"Why is soul magic inadvisable?"

"If you value yourself, your own sense of self, you will not ever touch soul magic. Manipulating your soul is like rewriting yourself, your original self will die and you will no longer be the true you. It has been used before in the past as punishment, as nothing hurts more than turning insane and knowing that your shell will kill everyone who you ever cared for. Of course having one's soul forcefully or willingly split are also different, in the former scenario you are completely at the mercy of the one who split your soul, in the latter you have partial control of yourself. But from historical records, even this partial control does not last long. So indeed, it is possible that Voldemort undertook such rituals to attain a form of immortality, even it is a cursed form. If that is indeed the case, the only way he can regain his sanity would be to reverse the process, but that has never been recorded or tried. In fact, it is very possible that Voldemort did indeed split his soul, perhaps with intention to reunite it once he achieves his objectives. Unfortunately for him, as often the case with magical objects, once split in half, it is impossible to place it back together to its original form. He will remain in insanity, and he will eventually either implode, or often is the case, his followers will plot to kill him once and for all. Having an insane master leads to one's own death sooner or later, after all. If by chance he does succeed, however, he would be a genius, and no doubt others will also try the process. In any case Voldemort is not much a threat now, and from what I heard he despises the non-magical community, which is extremely foolish and will greatly hinder him, so most likely he will not be much of a threat in the future either."

"So why we need to go into such detail about him?"

"Gaining knowledge of events in the outside world will help us, as history tends to repeat itself. Telling you, of course, is because that you will continue my legacy when I pass on and you need to broaden your horizons. I will leave more and more tasks to you in the coming years, as you have a great deal more to learn. As to our actions, right now we will watch and wait. We do have agents there who will report to us of progress, and if things escalate we can liaise with my contacts around the world, forming an alliance, and can proceed from there."

The young man's eyes lit up. "Will you send me abroad?" After his own suffering here, the young student has longed to be somewhere different, if only to help him over his past.

"Not if I can help it, I am afraid. Now that I have made my mind up that you will be the next Master here after my passing, and I will not undertake such a risk. I myself of course am too old. In fact I already have ideal candidates in mind if that is the case, but I suspect that will not be for a few years yet. As for you, I know you have suffered personal tragedy, but I have my own plans regarding you and gaining experience."

"Tell me more about Time Turners."

"Ah, yes. That is what started this conversation, no? They are incredibly rare artifacts. The most powerful Time Turners allows one to go back one hour every three hours, and can be charged to store up to seven Hour-Reversal charms. Only the most resilient of wizards can go back seven at once, but almost all wizards can manage five. However events that occurred cannot be changed. Attempting by force to do so creates a paradox, wiping the user's very existence. A temporal disturbance will then be created, much like how a sonic boom is created, which can be picked up by those who are sensitive to it, or have the correct instruments. I could sense it because of the prolonged use of Time Turners in my youth – something which I do not recommend to you, as there are much better ways to spend your youth. After all, one still ages when using a Time Turner, and prolonged use does somewhat isolate one from others. It is extremely useful to use to catch up on sleep, however. For most people, the most prized fact about Time Turners is that it allows one to be in two places at the same time, but that is actually much overrated. In fact, in my youth I discovered a much more important use of Time Turners, and is a reason why I always have one on me."

"Master, I have another question, though I am unsure if I should ask…"

"You want to know why I have chosen you to succeed me, rather than, say, someone who is more powerful or my son."

The young man had a blank expression on his face. Had he really been that easy to read?

"You are the most suited; I believe you have qualities which best suits this position. Although you are not the most magically talented nor the most intelligent among my students, you have the best overall qualities, and in both cases you are not far off the best. Also, this is not an empire, or undoubtedly I would have taken concubines to generate a more worthy heir." The old man smiled. "Of course with an empire my wife would not be in such control of me, and will not be able to stop me from taking concubines in the first instance. Anyway, the position is much of a burden as it is a blessing, and my son is not suited to it. He is much too like his mother, too active and impatient. Plus, I do not like my daughter-in-law, but that's another matter. But enough talk for now, you will need to go back to studying."

"Thank you for your faith, master. Although I do hope you will consider allowing me to explore more of the world. Also why do I need to study functional analysis with runes to such a depth? I cannot quite see the app - "

"Magic is much like a function. You have inputs and outputs, and are most certainly not linear in any way, though for certain inputs and outputs they can be approximated to being linear, much like classical mechanics. Runes, being set magic affecting an area under certain rules, are even more similar in that respect. To understand its nature, and why some things are the way they are, you must apply mathematical analysis to it. Magic, runic or otherwise, has its own set of axioms and rules, though most of that is undiscovered or complicated beyond our understanding. But in order to even start to understand spell casting and the arithmancy behind spells and runes, functional analysis and matrices are a must. Besides, functional analysis is my favourite branch of mathematics. Well, maybe number theory is, but that is more of an obsession than a use, as the three most significant magical integers have little to do with number theory."

The old man suddenly went deathly still again.

"What is it master?"

"Number theory – I just thought – if one divides his soul into two unequal halves – it will be impossible to piece together again in its original state due to the nature of magic – analogous to the fact that counterspells are never the direct opposite function of a spell - but if he divides it in such a ratio – then it may be possible. Much like how one cubed plus twelve cubed is 1729 which is nine cubed plus ten cubed – must be cubed due to the dimension of course – and must be positive integers – or must it? Well splitting the soul in that ratio automatically generates rationals…"

The student sighed as he watched his Master go off in a tangent in his thoughts, and set off to grab a snack before condemning himself to study again.

* * *

-~ 1.4 ~-

"Harry, time to get up!"

"A little longer…"

"Blimey. Normally it is you waking me up. When did you fall asleep last night? Well we are already slightly later than usual for breakfast, so I'm going in a minute with or without you." Harry gradually awoke to the sound of Ron pestering him in a rather squeaky voice.

"Alright alright!" Harry replied, as events came back to him. He silently cursed; Death had not come last night after all. His still aching head was also seemingly complaining about the fact that it has not had enough rest.

"Were you up doing homework? Your trunk is still open and there are some pieces of paper around your bed."

"No no that's just nothing Ron." said Harry as he picked up the notes and the contract with Death, hiding his worry in his voice. He realised two things; that the "For Harry James Potter's eyes only" part was literally true - Ron had acted as if they were blank pieces of paper, and that his own voice was rather different to what he previously remembered.

_Time travel again, of course. And I didn't talk to myself last night. Well of course I didn't. _He thought _Guess it will take some getting used to._

"What are you waiting for? Bloody well hurry up!" Ronald was getting impatient.

"Okay okay I will I will", said Harry as he hurriedly dressed up. _Seems his stomach is still a priority. _He thought. _Ah the good times…_

After Harry put on the last of his robes, he put the contracts and notes back into his trunk and securely shut it. Then the pair made their way to the Great Hall, practically empty due to the holidays. Harry felt a surge of nostalgia as he walked into the Hall; it seemed much brighter and beautiful than he last remembered, back when darkness was looming over magical Britain. Dumbledore was noticeably absent, a fact that Harry was somewhat glad of. Even if he could not read from Harry's mind that he had gone back in time, Harry was not quite ready to face his old Headmaster just yet. Not only the fact that his death was still quite clear in his mind, but he has yet to sort his mind and emotions out. Additionally, Dumbledore could probably tell something was amiss from the way Harry was walking a mile away.

Harry watched with alarm as Ronald hungrily wolfed down his breakfast, while attempting to make conversation with Harry on Quidditch and chess.

_Wow, his manners are much worse than I remember. Guess he must have improved significantly over the years. Probably for Hermione. In fact I cannot quite believe how I could stand that behaviour…well I guess I was only a first year too then._

A series of muffled noises came from Ron's full mouth. From the tone of the noises, it sounded rather like a question.

"What was that Ron?" asked Harry.

Ron thankfully took the time to swallow before repeating his question: "Up for a game of chess after?"

Suddenly the thought of playing a game of chess with an immature eleven year old did not appeal to Harry, although he was still curious if he was able to actually beat Ron now that he has five or six additional years of experience. Well, experience of being battered by Ron, that is. In any case, he did not feel up to a game right now, so his mind worked to find an excuse.

"I am going to do some more research on Nicholas Flamel. I am pretty sure I saw him on a chocolate frog card or something." Harry said. In fact, that was almost the exact statement that made them discover the story behind the Philosopher's stone in the first instance.

"Aww come on, just one game first. Besides it's the day after Christmas, you can't go into the library. Even Hermione's parents probably ban her!"

Harry pondered for a moment and caved in "Okay fine, just one game. And muggle libraries are closed today." Deducing that at the least that gives him more time to think things through.

They made their way to the common room and Ron enthusiastically took out the chess set, which almost seemed rather annoyed at him. One game became two, and two became three. Harry was still amazed by how he lost every game, even if he has most of his attention elsewhere. Of course, he did not lose much of his material in the first few moves unlike when he first went through his first year at Hogwarts, but he was still thoroughly outplayed, and somewhat rather embarrassed. During the games Harry had thought of his priorities. His sudden lack of invisibility cloak did seem to make a lot of things harder. He could use the Room of Requirements for a lot of training and learning purposes without being seen or disturbed, though the Horcrux in there can probably wait until later. Right now, the only thing he can get started on was freeing Sirius Black. Not only would that save Sirius from further years of torture, but it will also mean that he will have a real home to go back to for the holidays. Plus, he longed to see his godfather again, ever since the unfortunate incident at the Veil of Death. Well, he would have to find a way of making Pettigrew confess, or exposing that traitor. Speaking of which, he has not seen Scabbers last night or this morning. He was not overly worried though, as Scabbers was probably sleeping somewhere and will turn up sooner or later, as there is no reason for Pettigrew to suspect that Harry is onto him. He would have to be careful though, if Pettigrew slips out of his grasp things would take a turn for the worse.

"You shouldn't have taken my knight you know, that was a trap. Your rook was no longer protecting your queen after that move. But still you are getting pretty good quite quickly mate," said Ron as he turns Harry's attention back to the game, trying to encourage Harry to a fourth game. "You might actually beat me in the next one."

"Ha, maybe another time Ron." Harry replied. All of the thinking is starting a take a toll on his young brain, and his headache was worsening. _Probably because there is suddenly a lot more knowledge and memories stored in my mind, _he thought. "I don't know about you, but I feel a bit tired from all that thinking from playing chess. Besides I don't think I slept well last night, so I think I will head to the dorms to take a nap. It is the holidays, after all."

"Really? A nap? Oh well go on then, I'll see you around." Ron said, at the same time wondering what was up with Harry. Ron's mind quickly suspected that it was something to do with the fact that Harry never having had such a Christmas before, and he quickly dismissed Harry's behaviour.

* * *

-~ 1.5 ~-

The rest of the day passed rather quickly for Harry. After a quick rest, after which he felt much refreshed, he made his way to the library. Having replayed the conversation with Death in his mind, he found that Death had referenced the Arithmantic properties of three, seven and thirteen several times. He found it curious that there were thirteen rules in the list and thirteen people will die if he deliberately broke the contract. That definitely was not a coincidence. Sitting in a remote corner in the library where it was unlikely anyone would find him even when Hogwarts was full, he thought over his predicament with growing frustration. As his headache returned, his thoughts went back to his two best friends.

_If only I had Hermione's brains. Actually I wonder how intelligent she actually is. She is very smart of course, but a large part of that comes from her unhealthy obsession with knowledge. Much as I love her she can be very short-sighted at times. And very bossy! Wonder what experiencing her twelve year old self again will be like. As for Ron – as good as a friend he can be at times, he does seem rather, well, useless… okay maybe a bit harsh, but Hermione has always been the better friend. And Ginny – oh Merlin she's going to an obsessed Harry Potter fan-girl again. Hmm – hopefully I'll see Remus and Tonks again in the near future too…_

As Harry processed his thoughts on his old friends, another thought suddenly came into his head – the subject of girls. Despite the fact that he was back in his eleven year old body, he had developed an embarrassing interest in the girls that he thought of. Well at least he has the restraint not to stare inappropriately, being the gentlemen that he is.

"Hmm maybe I should not think too much on these topics and I need to learn more from Ron on how to act like an eleven year old…" though Harry aloud. Suddenly aware that he has spoken his thoughts, he quickly checked around. Fortunately, there was not a single person in the vicinity.

He stood up and stretched himself, and felt that after sitting for so long he ached all over. Then he made his way out of the library with no destination in particular on his mind, attempting to clear his head. The next time he regained conscious control of his body, he found that he was outside the room where he originally found the Mirror of Erised. Finding it rather interesting that he has unconsciously walked towards the mirror, and being unable to suppress his curiosity, he went in the disused classroom. There, he saw the Mirror once more, feeling a bout of nostalgia upon seeing the engraved writing:  
**"_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."_**

As he looked into the mirror, he once again found that he saw a family. However, instead of his parents and him, he saw that it was his very own family. More importantly, he saw the unmistakable figure of Death coming to relieve himself from the magical contract he signed just a day before. At some point during his growing up process, he realised, he knew that those who have died have passed on and there is little use in hanging on to that desire. His thoughts went back to the Mirror, where he tried to make out the face of his desired wife. To his surprise and horror, however, the facial features of that figure was not fixed – it seemed to flip from once face to another, showing both very familiar faces and faces he was not too familiar with… but one thing was certain. The face was of pure beauty. His headache suddenly worsened.

_Dear Merlin, _thought Harry, _this is going to be a lot harder and a lot more awkward than I initially thought…_

* * *

**A/N: This chapter has now set the scene for the rest of the story. Hope you enjoyed it! **

**I intend for future chapters to be about this length each, so later updates may be rather slow (Will mostly update on weekends).  
**

**Please let me know of any major spelling/grammar mistakes, plot errors and canon inconsistencies. **

**Next Chapter Preview: An unexpected meeting, Death makes a return, and see what some students get up to during their holidays!**

**Last update for chapter: 30/01/2015**


	3. Chapter Two - Conference Consequences

**.**

**Chapter Two - Conference Consequences  
**

* * *

-~ 2.1 ~-

On an unplottable island in the middle the Pacific, the most senior wizards and witches from around the world gathered for an emergency meeting called by their most secretive departments. The local time was nearly an hour past midnight, yet the island was illuminated by lights as if dawn was rising. The building which housed the secret meeting was entirely non-magical in nature. After all, none of the countries trusted anyone other one to construct a building partly or purely magical in nature to house the most influential witches and wizards in the world. Under their assigned seats, each country had carefully craft runes with translation matrixes laid beneath the foundations. The primary function of the runes secured the safety of each county's representatives, but they also served as providing resistance or partial immunity to certain types of magic, with an emphasis on mind magic. The translation matrixes of course enable the witches and wizards to communicate with each other no matter which language was spoken. Of course, the quality of these runes differed greatly, and many smaller and less influential magical nations had to make do with what they could manage.

Indeed, much like the United Nations of the muggle world, yearly ICW meetings usually rotated between the most powerful magical nations, with the United States of America due to hold the next meeting. In times of war or in cases of emergency, however, the Confederate resorted to the island. The unplottability is caused by a complex modified Fidelius charm which places the Supreme Mugwump and the twelve senior elected members as the Secret Keepers. With each Secret Keeper having one thirteenth of the secret, revealing the location of the island required all of them having to agree to disclose their part of the secret.

An aged man stood up to address the global audience. His nameplate on the table in front of him indicated he represented the Department of Mysteries, from the British Ministry of Magic. Since graduating from Hogwarts, Professor Saul Croaker had worked all his life in the Time Department of the Department of Mysteries. The intricacies of time, especially magical manipulation of time, had always had an unique appeal to him, and so for him it was a dream job. He had performed outstandingly in his exams to obtain the job, producing the best marks in magical theory of half a century. After decades working and researching in the department, however, the appeal had gradually died down, to a point where he did not even have much enthusiasm to give lectures on his field of research. But yesterday's events thoroughly puzzled him and brought back his addiction, and now he was as intrigued as ever, though for the first time he also had fears.

"We are gathered here today due to the unprecedented temporal disturbance which occurred at 21:58:12 UTC on Christmas Day, approximately twelve hours ago. The exact location cannot be determined due to the nature of the disturbance; the instruments used to detect this disturbance went off the scale around the world. However, as the ones in London and Paris exploded, it is likely that the disturbance occurred near those locations." The lead Unspeakable of the Department of Mysteries began.

"So between London and Paris?" called out one wizard. He was clad in what looked like his pyjamas, and was clearly not fully awake. Professor Croaker took one look at the man and his name plate, indicating that he represented Mexico, and somewhat forgave the man for his ignorance. A mini Wizarding War there had the country in turmoil, plus the fact that it was around four in the morning there.

"It is a possibility, but not a necessity. "As the instruments in Germany and Spain did not explode, it is more likely that the disturbance is closer to London than Paris. Even this may not be the case, as each countries instruments are not identical and are subject to different conditions."

"What is it that is so important about the disturbance to warrant an emergency meeting?" This time it was a younger voice who spoke out. Saul Croaker sighed, since when did countries assign such inexperience to the ICW?

"I have worked in the department of time in all my life. Never had one of my experiments ever had made if go off the scale." In fact, that was a lie, but researchers in magic or potions often held on to their own discoveries and secrets as if their life depended on it. Nevertheless, his statement did not take anything away from the nature of the event - focusing the temporal disturbance of a tiny object sent back weeks in time was an experiment designed specifically to test the limits of his instruments, and two Time Turners were burnt out in the process. But this event had a seemingly wide area of effect, something he thought impossible to create.

"Made what exactly go off the scale?" continued the young man.

"I am not at liberty to discuss that in detail, I am afraid. If you wish to find out, you will need to speak to your own researchers of time in your country." Saul snapped. He really did not have time for this. He took one quick look at the young man's nameplate. _Germany. Aggressive in questioning as usual. Have to forgive them, though, _the professor thought, _ever since Grindelwald the Germans have never assigned a suitably experienced wizard to the ICW; they simply had none since the purge. Magicals who allied with muggles were just simply far to dangerous. _Even though this was close to an international crisis, one would not ever reveal their own country's discoveries.

As stated, the professor did not elaborate further and these was silence in the room. For him, the objective here is to be as vague as possible, and try to come up with a theory, and if necessary, a plan. Of course, if any other member countries revealed any extra information, well it would be a bonus.

The Supreme Mugwump stood up. In a deathly serious tone, he further explained: "Thank you Professor Croaker. As you all know, manipulating time is probably the most dangerous school of magic. Indeed in extreme circumstances one wrong step and all sentient beings on this world may be wiped out. One of the most disturbing events was in 1899, when Madam Eloise Mintumble experimented with time to attempt to travel back a dozen hours, only to be trapped five centuries earlier, causing over two dozen individuals to be un-born when she was retrieved back. Time was also distorted for the following months, with the most significant distortions in the following week. If she were to travel far enough back, all of us may have been un-born. This had only occurred two other times in recorded history, and similar effects were spoken of. Those were simply warnings to us that time simply cannot be meddled with, its consequences are far too severe and far-reaching." Dumbledore took a look around the room, whose mood noticeably darkened.

"We are now accounting for each and every Time Turner under our jurisdiction. I have contacted all of your relevant departments to do the same if they have not already done so. We have no anomalies as of yet. That is all we can currently provide on this disturbance. Is there anything anyone else wants to add?" With that, Professor Croaker sat down.

"Can you confirm that indeed a Time Turner was involved?" This time it was a well built man, the recently elected Foreign Minister of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, Samuel Quahog, who spoke up.

Professor Croaker remained in his seat this time, and replied in a rather soft voice: "I had not thought of that yet."

"So that is also a possibility, in that case." Said Dumbledore thoughtfully, grateful for Quahog's input. "However one must consider that time magic in its raw form is incredibly volatile and almost impossible to manipulate. I myself have never had any success, and other accounts I read indicated very limited success. "

There were murmurs around the room as others considered the possibility, but unfortunately everyone in the room was either unwilling to elaborate further on the matter, or simply could not. Finally, another voice spoke up.

"If a rogue individual travelled back in time sufficient enough with a Time-Turner, and unwittingly wiped their existence, would that be sufficient to cause this temporal disturbance?" The representative of India, Jaidev Patil, spoke.

"This has happened before many times before in history. Not once did the instruments explode or even go off the scale, though, even when such events occurred in Britain." Replied the professor. "Hence it is quite unprecedented."

"But surely it is possible though?" continued the Indian wizard. "Perhaps we will find the additional effects of the stronger disturbance soon: Hundreds of people perhaps un-born? Or perhaps some of history changed? Or will it be possible that the entire history changed, yet we do not know as our memories have been likewise adjusted due to time attempting to repair itself? Indeed, could it be that discoveries in the future enabled someone to travel back in time to now?"

The murmurs around the room became louder and more chaotic, as almost everyone in the room started conversations with their neighbours or their friends. Dumbledore shook his head; the meeting had taken place due to the severity of this event, yet every single country was still looking to keep all of their secrets intact; not one member country willing to divulge their research on time travel. His thoughts were interrupted when a piercing voice interrupted everyone.

"All of that are just theories." Started a witch, whose golden hair swayed in synchronised motion with head head movements. She was much older than most of the others in the room, yet it was clear that she was a beauty in her prime. In fact, her facial features were still extremely pleasant to observe at. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, with a few faces scrunching up in disdain. Unperturbed by those stares, the representative of the Veela colony of France continued: "As nothing like this has occurred in history we must keep an open mind for now. I suggest we all go back to our respective departments and countries and try and find any anomalies at all. Check your historical records. Check for deaths, individuals missing, inconsistencies, any memory modifications. Check everything. And then we can meet to discuss again. In the meantime everyone should also be on their guard and report anything suspicious."

Dumbledore chuckled as his eyes began to madly twinkle. _Perhaps the female mind is more suited to these problems after all. Do what one can do, and stop questioning why or waiting for others to reveal further information when it is plain to see that no firm answers will come._

"That is a good suggestion, thank you. Let us agree on a time and date for our next meeting here on this." The Supreme Mugwump said.

Once all parties compromised on a time, the meeting was called to an end. Unnoticed by everyone, an old wizard with pure white hair who had been stroking his goatee had intently listened to everything spoken at the meeting. As he stood up do leave the building, he planned on writing to a few of his spies, and call his old friends in other parts of the world to discuss this revelation.

As the wizards and witches poured out of the room, Dumbledore signaled to Croaker that he would like to speak with him, casting a Muffliato Charm around them when Croaker made his way to him.

"What is it you want Dumbledore. You know it is still not safe to speak privately here. What is so important that it cannot wait?"

"In light of recent events I need a little help from you." Dumbledore replied. "I need a Time Turner urgently. You must realise that your department needs all the help it can get - "

"Cut your 'For the Greater Good' speech," snapped Croaker. After a brief pause to think, he continued: "I will get you one by tomorrow. Perhaps even by tonight. I trust you enough to know that you will handle it with caution. Please let me know of your discoveries and theories immediately, and please don't be senile and let the children take it."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "My mental capacity has never been better, old friend. I will let you know immediately of any findings I make. Oh - please also do not let the Ministry know - you know the fuss that they - "

"Yes yes yes I know. That is all?" Croaker impatiently interrupted, knowing very well how much of an imbecile Cornelius Fudge was. _Thank Merlin he cannot attend the ICW. He is bound to ask questions though - but that will be Dumbledore's problem, not mine.  
_

Dumbledore nodded. With a flick of his wand, the privacy charm was nullified and the pair made their way out towards the international portkey point.

* * *

-~ 2.2 ~-

Harry Potter awoke the following morning earlier than his red-headed friend, and as he got up his mood immediately dampened upon seeing Scabbers sleeping next to Ron.

_Well, I can't just seize him right now – I need to plan this out well._ As much as it pained him that he could not act now, Harry forced himself to calm his inner rage and thought of how to act as normal as possible around Ron. It has only been one day, and his seventeen year old mind is already making Ron, of all people, suspect that he was acting abnormally. Of course, Ron will just dismiss this rather casually but it will be a lot more difficult around Snape or Dumbledore or even Hermione. He then remembered Snape's memories which he saw just before going into the Forbidden Forest, and felt quite a bit of pity for the man. At least it would be easier for him to control his emotions around him now, and he hoped that with what occlumency he has learnt he will keep both Snape and Dumbledore from finding out that he has six additional years of knowledge.

Thinking of his own anger, though he has experienced many moments of fury since the events that took him back, he has managed to keep hold of his rage and resist any action, unlike his past Gryffindor self. _Probably because I no longer have a Horcrux in my head, _he thought_. Hope that makes my Occulmency better, too.  
_

As he was finishing his thoughts, he saw that Ron was gradually waking up. Scabbers, on the other hand, only flipped over to a more cosy spot, unwilling to be disturbed by Ron's awakening.

After their usual morning routine, Ronald continually pestered Harry to play with him after breakfast, and Harry relented. With his headache much better than the previous day, and mind a little more focused, he managed to win the first game of chess against Ron.

"Oh, congrats, you won." Ron sounded rather destitute. "Let's play again." And with that he hurriedly reset the board.

_Well, he's only eleven. I cannot blame him too much for that attitude. In fact I should even try and learn from him so I can act more like my physical age. _Harry thought.

Harry, realising that Ron was upset as he was just beaten in the one thing he was better at, agreed and subtlety lost the next game, much to Ron's delight.

"Wow, how did you get so good so quickly?" asked Ron. "You were leaving pieces to be taken all over the board only last week."

"Well it wouldn't be much good if I never improved, would it?" came the reply. "One more to decide who wins."

Ron readily agreed, and won the next game even with Harry moderately trying. With his pride restored, he beamed as he saw his black queen decapitate the white king.

"I am going off to the library again. I figured that I may as well learn some things during the holidays, and we really need to find out who Flamel is. Plus, I am a target so I also need to learn how to defend myself better, just in case someone tries something."

"You have too much worry mate, and you are becoming more and more like Hermione!" Ron replied. "I am sure Headmaster Dumbledore will never allow anything to happen to you, and we still have a week of holidays left."

Harry sighed, knowing that Ron would reply with such a response. He countered:" Have you even started on your homework Ron? A week may seem long but it will pass really quickly if you play chess all day. Besides, I do not have much knowledge of the magical world unlike you. A lot of things I still do not understand, and it will be beneficial if I caught up. Plus I do want to learn."

"Merlin, you are even sounding more like Hermione now. Well I guess she will be happy with you when she gets back."

That remark made Harry think of his other best friend again, and for a moment he let his mind wander. Previously Ronald had gotten together with Hermione, and as much as he was happy for them, he knew that they would not make the best couple. The lack of a common interest was the most concerning issue, and though the saying goes that 'opposites attract', he thought that in the long term they will need to tolerate each other and share at least a few common interests. That made him rethink of his own relationship with Hermione, but it was quickly dismissed: she was just his best friend, and in any case she is going to be twelve now. _Merlin I really should be thinking of my plans for the future, not girls!_

Refocusing back on the present, he suddenly wondered when it was that Ronald started developing feelings for Hermione. He may have been very oblivious before, but having gone through a relationship, he is longer the little boy he once was.

_Well, maybe one and a half. Not too sure if Cho counts or not, but since we kissed…_ thought Harry, blushing a little. _Well, at least those things will not develop for a few years yet. Heck, I could probably do without any teenage hormones messing with my mind. Hopefully by that time I would have gotten rid of Voldemort, or at least most of his Horcruxes. Or at the very least save some people. I'm not saving Quirrell though, however noble I may be. Besides, I am pretty sure he is already beyond saving._

"What are you thinking of, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking of how magic continues to amaze me – I still cannot quite take it all in after all these months.

"You have only seen Hogwarts mate. You can come by the Burrow this summer; we'll take you flying and you can explore around our home – it's completely magical!"

The thought of his times spent in the burrow warmed his heart – Ron had truly been a great friend, and the whole Weasley family cared greatly for him, even if he is sometimes a little annoyed by certain members of the family.

"Sure that would be great!" though Harry was a little unsure. He probably could not afford to waste away too much time enjoying himself. Deciding to stop reminiscing on his past, he continued: "Anyways I will see you around, I am heading off. You should start on your homework mate."

Ron sighed, and said: "Yes mom!" earning him a smack on the arm.

* * *

-~ 2.3 ~-

In an obscure room in the dungeons of Hogwarts, a man was seemingly talking to himself. If one observes more closely, however, they will see that the head of the man in question had two faces; the pale white face of a man who's expression seemed to be one of eternal worry, and on the back of that face another face, albeit unnatural, which had the look of rage incarnate. It's most distinguishable feature being the fiery red eyes which seemed to contain almost sufficient fury to burn all it sees.

"This is all your fault, you fool. If you had not rested we would have taken the stone in time at Gringotts." the angry voice started. "Now both Dumbledore and Snape are unto us."

"Wh-why can't you r-r-reveal yourself to S-Snape?" the worried face stuttered back.

"Stop with the stuttering you fool. And do NOT question me!" the voice replied, thinking at the same time :_ Because I am not powerful enough, Dumbledore is too close to Severus, and Severus cannot be trusted in any case. He probably has his own interests at heart and will not hesitate to betray me if he can assure my downfall. In any case, the probability of success is low at best, so better not risk too much too soon._

"What can I do for you m-master?"

"We need to accelerate our plans. Dumbledore never spends so much time outside Hogwarts during the holidays. He is definitely unto us, I can tell by the way he looks at you. I need you to brew me some Polyjuice Potion. Also have you obtained the dragon egg?" the fiery red eyes frowned in a thoughtful expression. _Pity that fool cannot brew Felix Felicis, or this will be much easier._

"Yes I have the e-egg. B-But we can't drink the Poly - "

"I did not say it was for us you fool! Question me one more time and I will torture you mind again." the angry face snapped. There was a pause before the voice continued: "First things first, we will need to persuade the big oaf to disclose his secret on the cerberus. Then we need to kidnap a girl and take her to the Forbidden Forest to lure a unicorn." _I will need as much power as I can get for this._

"And the girl? Can I - "

"No! You will not do such foul things you perverted pig. At least not in my presence. On more such thought and I will castrate you. Just dispose of her." _Such is the weakness of mortals - giving in to such wasteful temptation._

* * *

-~ 2.4 ~-

Harry let out a sigh, closing the book of Numerology and Grammatica. He had gone to the library to try and understand more about Arithmancy and the magical properties of three, seven and thirteen, but he found that he could hardly understand any of the topics discussed. Though he never had much talent in mathematics, he still expected, being a seventh year, to understand the majority of the concepts in the book. It seemed like basic arithmantic properties based on simple arithmetic was all that he could handle. Either way, he found little on why or how the three numbers are important - only that they are magically more powerful.

_Well, I guess I will have different electives this time around. That way I won't be wasting away time during all of the classes. _Harry thought. The thought of the future years down the round lead him back to what now is his greatest fear, surpassing even Voldemort – the necessity to kill in order to get there. Once again, he cursed his own luck and stupidity. _I wonder if my soul will becomes cursed if I start taking lives with the Elder Wand. Maybe I should just find some Death Eaters each year. In that case I wonder if it is morally right to kill someone who committed murder in the previous timeline? Do I even have the right to take away a life?_

It was then that he realised this headache was getting severe again; he had spent too much time sitting and reading and thinking. Giving his young brain a well-deserved rest, he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room to find Ron.

Harry took time to enjoy himself a little with Ron, talking about Quidditch and other magical games. As he and Ron went on chatting on a tangent discussing all sorts of topics, Harry realised how much he had missed such pleasantries. He also realised how much he craved true friendship - chatting away on all sorts of mundane topics without a care in the world felt wonderful. Although this time around he was determined to tackle Voldemort alone, or at least not involving children if he could help it, he also knew that his friendship with Ron and Hermione will not be what it was before; he would have to become true friends with them, almost completely all over again, and he felt that perhaps they will never be as close as hopefully they will not have to go through so much this time. Each year at Hogwarts seemed to have something significant involving him last time, and he felt he was obliged to shield his best friends from the more dangerous events that occurred. He did not have a single doubt in his mind that trouble will still come looking for him...

It was only after dinner that Harry remembered that tonight was originally the night he was found by Dumbledore staring into the Mirror of Erised. Realising that the Philosopher's stone could be currently contained in the Mirror, and that one of points in the contract signed with Death required him to destroy the stone, he excused himself from Ron and made his way to the unused classroom where the Mirror was located. It was rather surprising that he forgot about the stone last night – perhaps the Mirror is a good hiding place after all – it is, after all, much too distracting. Along the way he abruptly stopped – if he did destroy the stone is he not condemning the Flamels to death? Well, since in the original timeline it was destroyed anyway, he wondered if it is necessary to destroy the stone in the first place. Deciding that he could at the very least check on the stone, he continued on his way. Upon entering the room, he found that the Mirror was no longer residing in the room. Harry stiffened, and a trickle of fear fell into his heart. He had been warned that events would change, but he could not have foreseen it to have changed so quickly…

* * *

-~ 2.5 ~-

"Mother, you called?"

"Yes dear, dinner is ready."

Cho Chang made her way down the stairs. She, along with her parents, lived in a cosy three bedroom house in the suburbs of London. No magical objects exist in the house as Cho's and her parent's muggles friends often visited. Being in a non-magical neighbourhood, magic use in the house was kept to a minimum, but still can be used as the Ministry provided rune stones which absorbed any magic that threatened to leave the vicinity of the house. Cho's mother, had, after all, a reliance on household cleaning charms, hence the house was always spotless. In fact, their house was often praised in their circle of friends for being exceptionally clean.

"I made one of your favourite dishes today."

The three members of the family began to tuck in and chatted about plans for the remainder of their holidays.

"How has your last term at Hogwarts been Qiu?" Cho's mother asked.

"Oh, not too much happened. I tried out for Ravenclaw's Quidditch team, but I was no match for last year's seeker. It is his final year, though, and I will be looking to improve in friendly games with the second team. I may even have an opportunity as the substitute seeker this year." Cho said. Her fondness for Quidditch was well known by her parents. "Speaking of Quidditch, when can we go see the Tutshill Tornados again?"

This time her father spoke up. "Well dear, for each 100% in your end of year exams you obtain, we will take you to a game."

"I know we have end of year exams to make sure we can continue in our subjects into third year just like last year, but I am not sure if these are proper exams or if we will receive the exact marks. Last year we were just graded and told if we passed the year."

"Well in that case you must work hard and get some sort of academic award from your teachers. Will you have report cards this year?"

Cho sighed; her parents are typically pushy, like any other Chinese parents. "I am not sure if Hogwarts do that. And I think there will only be report cards for my OWL and NEWT exams. I hope to get an award for best in my year in certain subjects though."

"That is the very least we expect from you. You should be ashamed of yourself if you think you will come second in anything in a year of less than fifty."

Cho rolled her eyes. Her father is impossible at times.

"Did Harry Potter start this term?" her mother changed the subject. She will have a conversation with her husband later tonight on wildly unrealistic expectations. _Well maybe not 'wildly unrealistic'. Qiu was very intelligent, after all._

"Yes, it was in the papers, wasn't it? Anyway he is just a skinny first year. Other than his school robes, he seems to wear really tacky clothes. Oh, and there's all sorts of rumours about him about the troll which Professor Quirrell warned the school on Halloween. Oh and he already has a fan club."

"Hmm, there is already an independent investigation into that incident. I do hope nothing like that occurs again." said her mother. "Did you join the fan club?"

Cho blushed slightly and continued eating as if she did not hear properly. She was not going to tell her mother she was one of the people who started it.

"Well in any case dear," her mother continued after a pregnant pause, "Do write to us often from now on about events in your school. I doubt the appearance of Harry Potter and the troll and other events are a coincidence. We do worry about you dear, and if things go too bad we can always send you to another magical school. In fact your father and I had already discussed the possibility of going back to China. We have contacts there to enrol you into one of the most prestigious magical schools there."

"I would rather stay here mom, all my friends, magical and non-magical, are all here. But yes I will write more often if you wish."

* * *

-~ 2.6 ~-

Unknown to the Changs, a similar conversation was being carried out at the same time in the Patil household in a Wizard's village in central London, near Diagon Alley.

"Padma, Parvati, please pay attention to your father." The twin's mother started, who then went off towards the kitchen to prepare dinner.

The twins, who had been enjoying each other's company after being mostly separated during their first term at Hogwarts, both turned to their parents with a hint of fear in their faces. They both knew from the tone of their mother's voice that this was going to be a serious conversation. The last few times involved the twin's bout of accidental magic which started a forest fire, a mean streak from Padma after being bullied in muggle primary school, and a talk on boys. Well avoidance of boys, that is. In fact, it was only with their father intervention that first two instances did not escalate.

"What do you girls think of the incident of the troll?" asked their father.

"Oh, I heard it was killed by Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Apparently there was this big duel and he bashed the troll to bits. It is quite clear that he will be the next Merlin, in my opinion. In fact, we just started a fan club in honour of that." Parvati, who had already started her gossiping tendencies, replied.

"Professor Quirrell came in one evening saying there was a troll in the dungeons, which caused everyone to hide. But we do not know anything else for certain." Padma said in a more serious tone.

"I had a serious conversation with your Headmaster last month regarding that. Remember girls, magical schools are much more dangerous than muggle schools. Though the Headmaster will try his very best to keep you all safe, he is a very busy man. And of course, no one is perfect." Mr Patil continued.

"We will father. Is that all?" Padma asked.

"Not quite. I received word from your grandfather in India this morning that something has happened here in Britain. Though it probably was not at Hogwarts as it was empty at the time, you girls must be extra careful from now on. If there is anything that makes you uncomfortable at all, please tell us at once. These two necklaces are specially charmed so that whenever you squeeze them with your fingers, we will be immediately notified. It was not planned to be given to you until you are older, but recent events means I must give them to you now. Keep them with you at all times, my dears. And remember, it is better to be safe than sorry, so do not hesitate to squeeze the necklace in times of uncertainty." said their father as he handed the twins one necklace each.

The girls inspected the necklaces, and found that though the ruby gem in each one looked as if it was made of solid stone, it was in fact an illusion, and felt more like a rubber pouch of liquid. Each necklace hung loosely from a thin gold chain.

"These necklaces are also charmed with a moderately powerful Notice Me Not charm. Though it will not pass unnoticed by the most powerful of wizards, they will at least not attract you attention from your fellow students. Jewellery, after all, is something which you should only be wearing until when you girls are older. Much older." With that he looked sternly at both of the girls. "Do not think that I do not know of what happened to your mother's missing jewellery."

Both girls regained their look of fear, but quickly composed themselves after it was clear their father was not about to betray them to their mother. After all, he loved them much too dearly to hurt them in any way.

* * *

-~ 2.7 ~-

In a third location, this time in a much quieter suburb of London, another family was having a conversation about Hogwarts at the dinner table.

"Hermione dear, why don't you tell us more about your time at Hogwarts now that there is just the three of us." Hermione's mother, Jean Granger, started. They had spent Christmas at Hermione's grandparents on her mother's side. To Hermione, it was a nice change from hectic but enjoyable time at Hogwarts. Her grandparents, however, were still upset by the revelation that she was attending a boarding school in Scotland, and had constantly pestered Hermione about her time at the school and if she was really sure she wanted to continue at a boarding school. To them, the very idea of boarding school was absurd: it was only for the irresponsible parents who wanted to rid of their children as soon as possible, and so it was unthinkable that their daughter will send their granddaughter to such a place.

"Oh mum, it's like nothing you have ever seen! The whole place radiates magic: from the moving staircases to the enchanted ceiling to the view from the Astronomy Tower - and magical portraits and enchanted pictures and - "

"Slow down dear," Jean chuckled, happy at her girl's enthusiasm. "What sort of classed do you have there?"

"Each class teaches a different discipline in magic, though they do have Muggle Studies, which teaches the magical community on how non-magicals live, but that is an option only available from third year onwards. The core classes this year are all very interesting though, save for perhaps History of Magic. Even that is very informative in any case. I enjoy all the classes very much." Hermione said, thinking fondly of how she was usually one of the first students to take up any new concept.

"Do you have a favourite?" Her father asked.

"Perhaps Transfiguration, which is the magical art of changing an object from one form to another. The theory behind it is even more interesting in fact - I've read that though food cannot be transfigured, if one already has a food source, it can be enlarged or multiplied. In fact - "

"Yes dear, but I am sure we won't understand the details." Her mother smiled. "What about other students there? You made a lot of friends?" Jean was happy her daughter enjoyed Hogwarts so much, but she knew her daughter had a tendency to be rather reclusive at times.

Hermione hesitated before replying: "Yes I made two very good friends mother. But as the majority of students there had at least one magical parent, they were already familiar with the magical world unlike me. But I am sure I will settle in very soon and make more friends." Being bullied at her previous school, the subject of friends had always been a rather sour subject in conversations with her parents.

Jean Granger sighed at her daughter's revelation: Bullied for being different in the non-magical world, and bullied for being different in the magical world. Yet there was little she could do to help her daughter, other than to offer emotional support. The 'two very good friends' remark seemed truthful though, so perhaps things are not as bad as her worst fears. Maybe she will take her daughter out tomorrow for the post Christmas sales, hopefully that will take a few things off her daughter's mind.

* * *

-~ 2.8 ~-

"What did you find out, Fudge?" asked Lucius Malfoy. He had not been in a good mood - Draco has been complaining constantly about Harry Potter, the fact that Harry Potter is the celebrity, Potter was the centre of attention, Potter got a place on the Quidditch team and beat the Slytherins, Potter this, Potter that... He had quite enough hearing his son's ramblings. Narcissa has not been a help either, showering Draco with childish Christmas gifts and demanding that Draco should also be allowed to play Quidditch among other things. He would need to take a tougher stance on his son - Draco was far too spoilt. Perhaps he should have sent him to the Durmstrang Institute against his wife's wishes after all.

He had received an unexpected owl from Cornelius Fudge earlier in the day, and had thus made his way to the Ministry of Magic's office. Detecting hesitation in Fudge's voice, he added: "You will be rewarded handsomely for your information, of course."

"Well, Dumbledore has been surprisingly tight-lipped about this, which is unusual. He has never before withheld information from the meetings at the ICW before." Fudge happily started.

_In fact he has, just that you don't know. _Lucius thought. _You will never be unaware of when Dumbledore tells you half-truths. _"So did you find out anything at all then?"

"I know the Department of Mysteries was involved." said Fudge, "Albus had a rather worried look on his face and seemed rather hesitant to speak to me. Do you think something has happened and Dumbledore is going for the Minister position?"

"Perhaps, who knows what Dumbledore is up to these days. The Ministry of Magic position is the only one he is missing from his illustrious career, after all." Lucius hid a smile as he added to Fudge's self-disbelief. "What are the rumours?" Lucius knew that Fudge had ears and eyes in the most unthinkable of places, just like he had, so he was bound to have heard at least something.

"An unknown event related to something the Department of Mysteries researches is rumoured to be causing unrest. As an emergency ICW meeting was called, it seems that it is something that may have an effect on the whole world. My own Department is not saying a word to me on it though, but that's not a surprise. That is all I have on it at the moment, I will owl you at the earliest opportunity if I hear anything more on this."

"Thank you Minister." said Lucius politely, and he made his way back home to Malfoy Manor in a significantly better mood. _Department of Mysteries. Hmm...Perhaps it is related to the Prophecy? A new prophecy on the return of the Dark Lord? Recent events does seem to indicate the Dark Lord is returning and my Dark Mark has become slightly darker in recent months. If this continues I will need to gather the others to prepare for the Dark Lord's return._

* * *

-~ 2.9 ~-

_Harry once again felt trapped. This time he was in a sea of blue – with no boundaries to be found. Once more, he felt an indescribable pressure on his whole body without feeling anything physically. As the blue seemed to fade away, he felt an immense pressure on his neck, as if the very fabric of reality was decapitating him. He then saw an archway, glowing in gold, and felt himself being both pushed and pulled at the same time, head first into the archway, experiencing pain comparable to the Cruciatus Curse._

* * *

-~ 2.10 ~-

"Hello again. You called."

"You are late."

"I was busy. And if you listened carefully, I did say that I would come as long as you had a Hallow in your possession. I am making an exception as it is." And with that, the hated figure of Death reappeared.

"Why." asked Harry, the question obvious to both. Harry felt rage build up inside him. He felt he wanted to go and completely destroy Death, but he doubted he even had a remote chance of being successful. At the same time, he felt his headache build up. The pain from the nightmare in accessing Death's Realm was not fading.

"Because I need to feast on souls, Harry Potter. And one soul severed from the body by the Elder Wand is worth billions of souls to me. I did make the wand, after all, and I poured my power into it. I have not had a soul from the Elder Wand for decades, all because of 'Goody-Shoes' Dumbledore. In the past countless murders have been committed by and for the wand, until him."

"Why did you trick me like that?"

"How else would I get my souls? Also how many people will give up just about anything to have the ability to travel back in time?"

"But why me?" said Harry, clenching his fist in an attempt to resist the pain.

If Death could give a puzzled look, this would be it. "Because you are the Chosen One."

"What about the cloak?" asked Harry.

"That is the most prized Hallow: objects under it are invisible even to me. In fact, only the most powerful detection charms can see past it, and even then one must suspect that something nearby is invisible – the cloak has runic properties similar to that of a weak Notice Me Not charm. The Resurrection Stone, other than the increase in magical power it bestows, is next to useless, it was only created because Cadmus Peverell desired it and I could satisfy his desire. Finally the Elder Wand must remain in your realm for me to feast on souls. I made a grave mistake in underestimating one of the Peverell brothers and giving my Cloak away once; I will not do so again. Also, the cloak will be functional whoever the owner is, so you can have it back for now, but it will simply be under my ownership."

Harry was suspicious. Why would Death even lend it back?

"That is because you need the Cloak to help me achieve my goals. A word of warning: the Philosopher's stone was never destroyed in the original timeline – the Flamels faked their deaths. Although it is certain I will eventually collect their souls, with the stone they can live indefinitely, hence it must be destroyed. You will likely need the cloak to do so."

"I do not understand. You say that they can live indefinitely, yet they will eventually die."

"That is because you are stupid, Harry. As time tends to infinity, the probability of them dying due to major physical trauma tends to one. Technical speaking, it should be that they will almost surely die, so I will almost certainly collect their souls. But I am not giving you a lesson on probability theory here."

"But that is condemning the Fl – "

"The Flamels have murdered hundreds of people, and killed thousands more in their experimentation to create the stone. So in your definition, they are 'evil' and they probably deserve to die."

"And in your definition?"

"Good and evil are irrelevant to me. Only I would desire their souls, as individuals who stubbornly refuse to die greatly bothers me. I am the Keeper of Souls, after all, and individual souls that spend too much time out of my reach are annoying, much like when something is loaned but not returned. To me, all of you humans are living on borrowed time. Back to the Flamels, I will make you an offer, if you kill both of them with the Elder Wand, I will allow you to keep the cloak until your own death."

Harry, not really believing Death any more, continued: "Do I need to sign another magical contract? If so, no thanks." After a brief pause, he continued: "What is your true objective, Death?"

"No, no magical contract required. I know you have already had enough of them, so it will just be my word." After all, the same trick never works twice. Well, at least it usually does not. "As for my objectives, as long as the human race keeps on living and dying, as long as there are continually souls severed by the Elder Wand I will be happy. It is, after all, also called the Death Stick. And rightly so. Also please do not use the Killing Curse with the Elder Wand - that damages the soul. Any other fatal spell will be sufficient."

"And that is the truth?" Harry said, feeling slightly relieved he did not have to cast the Killing Curse. He doubted he could cast it, for starters.

"Yes it is. Although you will just have to take my word on it. Incidentally, the Elder wand will triple your magical power. The Hallows combined under your ownership would have indeed increased your power sevenfold - but I only told you that so that you know what you missed out on." Harry thought Death's skeletal face had a look of pure glee.

Harry paused. He had a thousand questions for Death just a day ago, yet now he was struggling to come up with one more. In the end, with his headache getting worse by the second, and pondering if he can fall unconscious even though he is currently unconscious in the physical world, he lamely finished with: "Why did you not take my soul?"

"Because you were my master. I could only serve you, and in fact I was bound to serve you and I would have had to tell the truth if you had made me do so. At the time, I could not have the contract make you serve me, though I can now if we were to sign another magical contract. In any case the contract allowed me to relieve you from being my master, regain my cloak, and send you back to fix a few things that were bothering me. Not a bad deal for me, huh?"

With that, Death handed Harry his Cloak, and once more sent his skeletal hand through Harry who disappeared from his realm.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Original plan for this chapter was for the rest of the students to return, but that will happen in the first half of the next chapter.  
**

**Next Chapter Preview: Hermione and others comes back and Harry's first adventure!**

**Last update for chapter: 30/01/2015**


	4. Chapter Three - Dumbledore's Decoy

**.**

**Chapter Three - Dumbledore's Decoy  
**

* * *

-~ 3.1 ~-

The very next day, pressure and pain in his head meant Harry had to spend the majority of his time resting though the confirmation of his temporary possession of the Cloak of Invisibility in this trunk comforted him and greatly helped him with his recuperation. The headache which worsened from entering Death's Realm only gradually improved as they day went by, as his small brain slowly processed all of Harry's old memories and knowledge. Luckily, Ron, though mildly curious about Harry's state, did not bother Harry too much and somehow kept himself entertained, most probably with his twin brothers.

The next couple of days after that went by rather quickly to Harry's slight dismay – in between making plans and gathering his thoughts, (which mostly consisting of cursing himself again and again on how he was so thoroughly tricked by Death), Harry enjoyed himself in the castle and mostly hung out with Ron, much to Ron's delight. Harry had also now gotten used to Ron's childish manners again - and he himself was becoming somewhat influenced; his table manners at deteriorated significantly, and his thoughts were becoming increasingly childish and mischievous. He also enjoyed exploring Hogwarts once again. By just paying a little more detail of the internal intricacies of Hogwarts, Harry really felt as if he was a little kid again and thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the magical objects in the castle as he continued his recovery.

During that time, Harry had also recovered from the initial awe of traveling back in time and was beginning to set events in motion - he knew he could not sit idly and wait, especially if he were to free Sirius Black. He knew that he would need people to help him with that task, and his thoughts first went to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. _Amelia Bones is the current head - hopefully that's another life I will save. Maybe I will approach Susan when she comes back. In any case approaching her directly about Sirius is bound to cause more suspicion and curiosity than anything else. I know! Remus will be perfect - he will recognise Pettigrew in his rat form and expose him like last time, just a couple of years earlier this time. Besides it would be great to see his friendly face again, and perhaps we can bond earlier. Maybe I can set him up with Tonks earlier too..._

With that thought, Harry began to draft a letter to his former Defence against the Dark Arts professor.

_Dear Professor Lupin. _Scrunching the paper up and incinerating it with an _incendio _after Harry realised Remus was yet to be his professor, he began once again: _Dear Remus, _before doing the same, thinking that it was too informal. It was not until after at least a dozen attempts did he reach something he was mildly satisfied with:

_Dear Mr Lupin,_

_My name is Harry James Potter. I am writing to you as I have been told by Professor McGonagall that you were once great friends with my father, and also knew my mother. I was raised by muggles, so I have rather little knowledge about the magical world. I was thinking perhaps if I could make your acquaintance, as I would love to hear about my parents and their time at Hogwarts._

_I look forward to hearing from you,_

_Yours,_

_Harry James Potter_

Still thinking there was something wrong with the letter, Harry nevertheless decided to take it to the Owlery, satisfied he has at least begun his quest to free Sirius. In any case he would see how to proceed after getting a reply.

On his way to the Owlery, he visibly stiffened when he thought of Hedwig. He had almost forgotten about her since he came back, having lost her in his final year before traveling back in time. With guilt of her death still fresh in his mind, Harry made an extra trip to the kitchens to obtain some bacon and owl treats. Upon reaching the snow covered Owlery, he immediately saw the unmistakable figure of Hedwig who flew down onto this shoulder, affectionately nipping him in the process.

"Hello old girl." Harry said as he stroked Hedwig. _I will definitely keep you safe this time._

Hedwig cocked his head to one side, sending Harry what appeared to be a stern look.

"Sorry girl, I did know mean the 'old' part at all. And I am sorry I did not visit sooner." Hedwig's stance visibly softened upon hearing this, but her eyes were still locked on Harry with a curious expression. Treating her with the owl treats and the bacon, Harry continued caressing his snowy owl, causing Hedwig to stare at him with increased curiosity despite being visibly a lot more relaxed.

Laughing lightly, Harry said to his owl: "I have a letter I need you to deliver. It is for Remus Lupin, you know where he is located, right?"

Hedwig almost seemingly bobbed her head, before taking the letter in her claws and flying away after sending Harry one last glare. Briefly wondering on how owls can detect the location of the addressee without an address, Harry made his way back to the Common Room.

* * *

-~ 3.2 ~-

On the day before the rest of the students were due back, Harry saw a troubled Dumbledore hastily making his way towards him during breakfast.

"Hello sir." Harry politely greeted.

"Harry, have you been all right my boy?" Dumbledore asked in his soothing grandfatherly voice.

"Of course sir, I have had a wonderful Christmas at Hogwarts, has been the best time of my life sir!" Harry beamed enthusiastically.

Dumbledore seemed a little relieved at that. He continued: "So have you been feeling any different lately?" The headmaster's face was one of genuine concern.

"Not that I know of, sir." lied Harry, keeping a blank mind as he answered.

"Hmm. Very well then. I must apologise for not visiting you during the Holidays. I had planned to see you around but I was called to an unexpected meeting the day after Christmas, and I have been a little busy since."

"Thank you sir, but I have been well taken care of here." answered Harry.

Dumbledore visibly relaxed this time, and patted Harry on the back. "Very well my boy. Well done again on your brave actions in defeating the troll, and I wish you the best for the rest of the school year. Again, I apologise if you find that I am seldom around to guide you, for I am indeed a rather busy old man. If anything comes up you can always ask Professor McGonagall, who can also arrange you to see me if there is need."

"Thanks sir, I will keep that in mind."

As Dumbledore turned and left towards the staff table, wondering on what had caused his monitoring instruments to all spontaneously explode, he noted that Harry had been rather more polite than usual. Dismissing this to the back of his mind, he thought: _Perhaps it was the temporal disturbance discussed at the emergency ICW that caused it. They were very sensitive instruments, after all. The most important thing is that Harry is alright, the instruments to monitor his well-being can always be recreated._ With that thought, his mind returned to the Philosopher's stone. _I must remember to take the mirror back from Minerva today after I told her to keep it safe. This must be done today as students are returning tomorrow. It is time to set the trap - though recent events mean I must make some changes..._

Meanwhile, Harry pondered on this new turn of events. He was rather pleased with his occulmency during his conversation with Dumbledore: he did not have a single stray thought. Perhaps the Horcrux inside his head was the reason for him being pathetic in that art before. Remembering back on the conversation he just had with the headmaster, he did not remember Dumbledore mentioning any sort of unexpected meeting last time, and he was certain Dumbledore did not check on him just before the end of the holidays. Harry was pretty certain the only interaction with Dumbledore during his Christmas holidays in his first year was when Dumbledore found him in front of the Mirror of Erised, where the mirror was subsequently removed by Dumbledore from the unused classroom. _And it was also when the headmaster lied about what he saw in the mirror himself. _Harry added in his thoughts. Dumbledore will still be significant if he were to defeat Voldemort though, and for Harry it was just a question of how to get him on his side without attracting too much suspicion. _That and I also need to obtain the Elder Wand from him...I wonder if he will just give it to me if I ask nicely?_

* * *

-~ 3.3 ~-

"Hermione!" Harry had waited in the Hall for his best friend to appear. Students have been filtering in for a while now, and his heart leapt when he finally saw his bushy haired friend. He was rewarded as Hermione pounced on him and game him a crushing hug, somewhat suffocating him – Harry had forgotten that being skinny and eleven hugs by Hermione were literally crushing.

"Harry! How was your holiday? Did you like my present? I know it wasn't much of a present but I did not have Galleons to get you anything else, maybe I'll get you something non-magical next time. Perhaps next Christmas you can come round and visit me! Oh, and have you finished your homework?" asked Hermione, as she released Harry from the warm hug.

Harry chuckled, glad to see his other best friend again. She was so young, too, though not as attractive as when he last saw her. _Probably due to the fact that she now lacks…_Harry stopped himself from going down that train of thought. _And her hair - it's just ridiculous._ Then he suddenly stiffened. He had previously reminded Ron about doing homework. Trouble is, with Ron being Ron, Ron never reminded him afterwards. _In fact, Ron probably forgot about his homework the minute after I told him. In one ear and out the other. But I definitely won't remember what homework I was set six years ago._

"Oh Harry. Don't tell me you have not done it yet. I am going to kill you if you say that."

"Er…." Harry hesitated as he thought up of an excuse. "I forgot, I am so sorry Hermione. Please don't kill me. I was too busy researching Flamel – because I had a breakthrough I totally forgot about the homework!"

As expected, Hermione took the bait. "Really? What did you find? Tell me tell me!"

Harry smiled once more. It was good to have the cheerful Hermione back who ate up knowledge like Ron eats up bacon sandwiches. The year of the Horcrux hunt had really taken its toll on the Golden Trio, and Harry was determined not to let that happen again.

"Well, Flamel, as in Nicholas Flamel, master alchemist and creator of the Philosopher's Stone. I found a reference to him from Professor Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card. The Philosopher's stone is an incredibly powerful artifact that can turn any metal into gold, and can create the Elixir of Life, which can grant immortality."

"Oh of course! Now that you say it, I remember I read something about him in one of my books." Hermione was practically jumping with joy. "You still need to do your homework though. But I'll help you, of course!"

"Thanks Hermione." Harry said as he felt some relief. "Er…I have forgotten about homework, we don't have anything to hand in tomorrow do we?"

Hermione's delightful expression suddenly disappeared. "How can you be so forgetful? Are you feeling alright? Also has Ron done his homework?"

Grateful for changing the subject to Ronald's homework, Harry quickly said: "Let's go find him." And the pair set off towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

There, they found him in the middle of a game of chess against Neville, who arrived by Floo earlier that day due to Augusta's paranoia. Ron's white pieces greatly outnumbered Neville's and the majority of Ron's pieces were ominously surrounding the black king.

"Ron! Had a good time here at Hogwarts? I heard you and Harry found out about Flamel! And you have at least _started_ on your homework…right?"

Ronald, being preoccupied, let the first part of Hermione's speech pass over him, and clumsily replied to the second half: "You will help me do it right, Hermione?"

"Argh, both of you are insufferable! At least we have made progress on Flamel, though. I am going to the library in a bit to see if I can find anything more on him. I'll help both of you out on homework later, but you guys owe me big! Neville! How were your holidays? You have done your homework right? Where were you on the Hogwarts Express?"

"My gran sent me by Floo for some reason, said it's safer that way. As for homework, er yeah – I – " Neville was about to confirm that he has done a large part but not all of his homework, before Hermione the bullet train interrupted again.

"Oh that's wonderful. See Harry, Ron, at least someone has the decency not to slack during the holidays. By the way Neville, did you get the optional puzzle in charms? It has the most wonderful solution, but I had to think for hours on end to solve it."

Harry rolled his eyes and could not help start retorting: "Not everyone is as smart as you Hermione. You and your extra credit – " before stopping himself, realising that he was taunting Hermione for her attitude towards homework and her personality. "Sorry."

Hermione huffed and made her way towards her dormitory, where she unpacked her things. By the time she came back to the Gryffindor common room Ron was waiting for her, having won his game.

"Hey Hermione, should we go to the library to do our homework now?" Ronald asked.

Hermione stopped down the staircase and sent Ron a glare. "As I said, I am going to the library to continue research on Flamel. You can start on your homework now, I have already finished mine. I'll consider giving you a hand after.

"But – "

"Ronald Billius Weasley. Start. Your. Homework. Now!"

Ron hung his head in disappointment as he made his way to his own dorms to make a start with his homework, daring not to disobey or retort back. Harry could not help containing a chuckle, he had missed Ron and Hermione's arguments.

"Don't you laugh Harry James Potter. Same with you, start NOW." Hermione continued in a tone that anyone would find intimidating.

"But Hermione, I really _really_ forgot what we were supposed to do." Harry complained.

Hermione's face suddenly shifted to one of concern. "Are you okay Harry? How can you just forget what it was?"

"Well, I have had this great headache all this time. In fact it was so bad I had to pretty much sleep for an entire day a couple of days ago. Ask Ron if you don't believe me."

Hermione sighed. Taking pity on Harry, she asked: "Do you need me to get you a Remembrall?"

As Harry fondly replayed in his mind the memories of him catching Neville's Remembrall, he was rather viciously poked by Hermione.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hermione demanded.

_Merlin she is violent at times. I feel sorry for her future husband. Think of the children - bet she will introduce corporal punishment for failure to complete extra credits homework. _Harry shook his head to reality. "Sorry, just spaced out a bit. I don't need one, but thanks for asking. Madam Pomfrey says my headache is just a one-time thing." Harry lied, "But if you just remind me of our homework, I promise I will start on it right away. And that hurt, by the way."

Hermione was sceptical, and also looked a little guilty for her violence. "Well it should. Maybe next time you will pay more attention. Anyway, how can you forget _just_ your homework?"

Harry sighed and looked guiltily. He struggled to think up of an excuse, and thus remained silent.

"Alright, come to the library with me. I am not doing your homework for you though."

"Thanks Hermione! Let's go. I'll get my quill and paper from my trunk first." Harry darted to his dorms to collect his required belongings.

As the pair made their way to the library, with Harry looking forward to spending some time with Hermione, he wondered if Hermione will notice that something is different with him. _Well, as long as she is so preoccupied with thoughts about homework, she will probably never notice. But she is also just a first year now, and doesn't exactly know me as well as she did. Hmm...maybe I can just be myself after all..._

* * *

-~ 3.4~-

Much to Hermione's surprise, Harry was quite capable of his own homework once he knew what it was. Much to Harry's horror however, he had in fact written much of what homework he had to do – he just never had the thought of looking in this trunk first. That had earned him glares from Hermione for quite a while. She had suspected that Harry was deliberately trying to spend time alone with her, but that thought was somewhat dismissed as Harry happily chatted away and started on his homework.

"So what should we do about Snape? It seems likely that the only reason he was hurt by Fluffy is because he was after the stone." Hermione started, once it was clear Harry was applying the finishing touches to his homework. She had made no further progress herself on Flamel, and was starting to become agitated.

Unsure if he wanted to involve Hermione this time, he replied: "I am not too sure. Maybe I will go tell Dumbledore. In any case it seems that if Fluffy is indeed used to guard the Philosopher's Stone, surely Dumbledore will have further protective mechanisms. He had told everyone at the beginning of the year about the third floor corridor, so perhaps it is a trap to lure Snape out. In any case I think we should trust Dumbledore." Harry sneakily played the card of 'trusting individuals in authority' on Hermione.

"Hmm I think you are right. But still - Fluffy might actually hurt students!"

Harry sighed. This was not a conversation he wanted to have right now with Hermione. Deciding to change the topic, he said :"I am sure Dumbledore will make sure everyone is fine - he must know of the dangers when he planted curiosity in everyone by mentioning the third floor corridor. He definitely has that placed monitored, I would think. Anyway I think we should go back to the common room now - I've pretty much finished my homework now."

Hermione felt a faint spike of jealousy - even she had not finished it so fast - before quickly pushing it away when she saw that Harry did not even attempt the optional questions. "Fine then, in any case I doubt I can find any more information on Flamel here."

To Harry's expectations, Hermione spent much of that night doing Ron's homework for him, scolding him in the process much to Harry's amusement. Wondering if the pair would get together after all further down the road, Harry made his way back to the dormitories.

Harry spent the night thinking back on the obstacles Dumbledore and the other professors put in place for the Philosopher's stone. He would need to get through them again to the Philosopher's Stone to destroy it himself this time, but he was rather determined to partake this task on his own.

_There is no need to risk Ron or Hermione this time. In fact - I must not, as I need to destroy or at least steal the Philosopher's Stone first. Now - for the obstacles, well, I already have the flute and the Cloak of Invisibility back, so I can get past Fluffy with ease. The Devil's Snare can be defeated with fire or even light, just need to approach carefully and not panic. I can catch the Snitch-like key with ease. The chess game – I think I can manage on my own, having refined my chess skills with Ron. I'll sit on the King to avoid injury. The troll - well it probably will not be knocked out, but I have my cloak. I remember Snape's potions and I think I can manage that – in any case I think I can vaguely recollect the solution of the riddle. The hardest will probably be the mirror – I must not be distracted for that._ _At least Quirrell/Voldemort will not be there this time_. As Harry finished his thoughts, he drifted off to a well-deserved rest.

* * *

-~ 3.5 ~-

The very next night was another feast night – to give a warm welcome all the students back from the holidays. Though not as lavish as the feast on the first of September, it was still an occasion for which the whole school gathered, and messages sent and school events announced.

Harry had hoped he would receive his reply from Remus, but he quickly realised it was too much to hope for the reply this soon. _Perhaps Remus has his own doubts - he is a werewolf after all. _Harry thought, before quickly thinking back to the stone. _Well I still have plenty of time to get the stone, though I must not wait too long. I wonder what detection mechanisms are in place - Dumbledore did return rather quickly last time, and it would be foolish to think that Dumbledore does not observe it carefully. Well, speaking of Dumbledore, I wonder how in Merlin's name will I obtain the wand - shall I practice the disarming charm with him?_

" –wish to join duelling club, applications are to me made to Professor Flitwick."

That brought Harry from his thoughts about his plans for the Elder Wand and Philosopher's Stone.

"What was that Ron? A duelling club?" Harry asked absentmindedly. _Perhaps disarming charm it is, _Harry thought to himself.

"Shhh Harry. Stop daydreaming and listen." said Hermione quietly.

"Yeah, Dumbledore just said there will be prizes for the best in each year. You think I have a chance?" Ron whispered.

"Sure Ron." whispered Harry back automatically. _I clearly remember the Dueling Club was started by Lockhart in my second year, I wonder what changed for Dumbledore to start it in first year?_

Dumbledore continued to make announcements on upcoming activities and school rules, reiterating the ban on entering the Forbidden Forest and the third floor corridor.

"That is all the announcements for now, tuck in." Dumbledore finished, and hundreds of plates magically appeared in front of all the students at once.

Not feeling in the mood to eat just yet, Harry took a brief look at the staff table: Dumbledore had a weary look on his face – seemed like he had not slept for days. McGonagall had a strict expression as usual, even while eating. Moving onto Snape – Harry almost fell off his chair after finding Snape has not started eating and was in fact staring right back at him, seemingly determined to find Harry at fault for something like breathing too loudly. Taking his eyes away, he found Quirrell, who was static in his seat, staring at the Enchanted Ceiling. Harry followed his gaze to find the ceiling of the Great Hall was beautifully enchanted with effects of snow falling. In all his years here, he had never noticed such a wondrous weather effect on the ceiling: It was cloudy or rainy most of the times he looked there, and in the rare cases on which it snowed, he was presumably preoccupied or otherwise uninterested.

As his gaze went back to the Defence against the Dark Arts professor – he suddenly noticed something was amiss. The professor still had not moved and had a dreamy look on his face, though the nearby professors were not taking notice. But that was not all - Harry focused on Quirrell as his mind furiously tried to work out what else it was missing, before realising that Quirrell did not wear his turban as usual. Immediately concluding that the Quirrell in the Great Hall was either free from Voldemort's influence or an imposter, Harry felt his heart drop as he suddenly recognised the effects of the Imperius curse.

At the same moment, Harry saw Dumbledore suddenly stiffen, who subsequently stood up and seemingly excused himself from the other professors. Looking back and forth between Quirrell's motionless body and the retreating figure of Dumbledore, Harry made a decision.

"Where are you going Harry, you haven't touched your dinner yet!" cried Ron, attracting the whole table's attention onto Harry.

"I am not hungry Ron, I just thought of something I had to do – I will catch up with you guys later." Harry lamely said. By this point from the corner of his eye Harry saw at least two groups of Gryffindor girls whisper excitedly while pointing in his direction. To rid himself of at least some guilt, he stuffed a piece of lamb into his mouth, before turning to go out of the hall again.

"Harry! You can't just leave the feast!" Hermione practically demanded, attracting further attention.

_In fact, I think you will find there are no rules saying that I cannot. Surely there is not a rule against that in Hogwarts: A History._ thought Harry, before replying: "I am not breaking any rules Hermione. I just don't feel like eating at the moment and want to take a walk. Have you looked at the ceiling? Its beautiful outside." Subsequently dismissing his best friends with a wave, Harry Potter made his way to the Gryffindor Common Room to retrieve his invisibility cloak, completely unaware he had caught the attention of two students who have already decided to follow him later.

As Hermione recovered from her shock and disbelief at Harry's abrupt departure, she muttered, more to herself rather than anyone else: "I wonder what is up with Harry."

"He's been a little different lately. Maybe its the headaches bothering him. Or maybe the troll. Even now when I think of the troll I find it terrifying. So maybe Harry just needs some time."

"Maybe." Hermione said, but remained rather unconvinced. "Should we follow him?"

"Nah. Well, maybe. But at least let us finish our dinner first. It's hard to think on a empty stomach. Actually it is hard to do anything on a empty stomach." Ron halfheartedly replied.

Hermione shook her head as she raised it to observe the Enchanted Ceiling. Just as Harry had said, it was indeed magical.

_Well, of course its magical. _Hermione corrected her thoughts._ The snow is lovely, but together with the aurora...the view is simply magnificent._

* * *

-~ 3.6 ~-

Just as events at Hogwarts took a dramatic turn, Lucius Malfoy waited in his manor for the others to appear. The sudden darkening of his Dark Mark over the past two days had summoned him into action. Now that his son was back at Hogwarts and Narcissa at Parkinson Manor discussing mundane topics with Lady Parkinson until late at night, he had the manor to himself.

Unsurprisingly, it was Crabbe and Goyle who arrived first to his summons, unwilling to show up late for fear of reprisal. It also greatly pleased Lucius that their respective sons also have Draco as their leader, following his son wherever he went. That was possibly the biggest plus in sending Draco to Hogwarts: despite Durmstrang's notoriety for Dark Arts, Draco would be alone in a unfamiliar country where even Lucius did not have many contacts. Even the headmaster there was not in Lucius good graces, he had after all betrayed fellow Death Eaters to avoid time in Azkaban, though he had tried to rectify this by promising that Draco would be well taken care of if he had indeed gone to Durmstrang.

"Malfoy, what makes you summon us here?" asked Goyle.

_Crude as usual, _thought Malfoy, before replying: "Patience Goyle. I will start once the others arrive."

The pair of them sat down clumsily made their way to their seats, and began to ungraciously take the snacks that had been laid out for the guests on the table much to Lucius' annoyance.

Nott and Avery appeared exactly on time. "I have been told by the Carrows they will not be attending." said Nott as he entered Malfoy Manor.

"And Yaxley?" asked Lucius. The Carrows had their own agenda, they had always been rather unwilling to meet up with other Death Eaters following Voldemort's defeat, having narrowly escaped Azkaban themselves. But he had expected Yaxley to come.

"No news on him. May be out of the country. I suggest you start the meeting." replied Nott. He had been rather reluctant to attend, for fears of Dumbledore's spies seeing them gather. In fact, he would have also thought up of an excuse if it were not for the fact that his son Theodore was in the same year as Draco.

"Very well." started Lucius as all the occupants settled on their seats. "I will go straight to the point. Have any of you noticed anything different about your Dark Marks?"

The four others in the room had a look of bewilderment on their faces. Realising his error, he quickly comforted his guests: "Do not worry, the wards here are made by the best curse-breakers the goblins had to offer. I even had my house elves scour the place for any hidden listening devices." Thinking of house elves, Lucius immediately called: "DOBBY! Go make some hot tea for all of us. Without any poison of course, and make the tea to the best of your ability. Do be useful for once and do not disappoint me." The thin house elf who had appeared just moments earlier trod off towards the kitchen to follow his master's demands, cursing silently in his mind.

"No, I did not notice anything." It was Crabbe who spoke up. Goyle soon followed with :"Neither have I."

_Well, honestly I would not think you two will notice. The mark would have to burn off your arms to make you two notice._ Lucius thought. It was at that moment Dobby came back with tea for each of the men. As the elf made his way back, it received a kick on the backside from its owner, attracting laughter around the room.

"I find it getting a little darker." said Avery after a moment's silence. "In fact, if you had not mentioned it, I would have just passed it off as it being different under different lighting."

"The idea is new to me." Nott said, as he rolled up his sleeve. "Does not seem too different to me though. Maybe a little darker."

_Or maybe your eyes need checking. _Thought Malfoy. "There was an emergency ICW meeting called last week. Although I have yet to find out the contents discussed, it seemed to cause a great deal of fear and uncertainty for the whole magical community, and Dumbledore in particular. I think there may be a sign that the Dark Lord is returning. If I were to make an educated guess, either they have been experimenting on the Dark Mark on a Azkaban prisoner and have found it changing, or there is a new prophecy about the return of the Dark Lord, more powerful than ever. Or both. Unfortunately I do not have anyone inside the Department of Mysteries to confirm these theories. Yet."

"If that is the case, what should we do?" Crabbe's voice had an edge of fear in them. To him, experimentation meant that a fellow Death Eater had been cut up and examined to great detail - a fate he now feared more than ever.

"There is nothing much we can do now." said Avery. "We will await the Dark Lord's commands and his summons. In the meantime I suggest all of your practice your Unforgivables!" there was a hint of lust in the man's voice.

Lucius shook his head. It seemed to him that everyone here were just brutes or followers, maybe except for Nott. "Very well. I will continue gathering information and will notify you all of anything that comes up. Do warn the Carrows and Yaxley that the Dark Lord will not be pleased if they are not at his side when he returns."

As the participants of the meeting made their way home, Lucius thought over his future plans. _Perhaps it is time to start recruiting again. Maybe I can convince the more neutral families, like the Parkinson, Selwyn, Greengrass and Flint families, to join our glorious crusade this time - after all they had always believed in Pure-blood supremacy..._

* * *

-~ 3.7 ~-

"Can't you catch a simple key!" screamed a furious voice through Quirrell's turban.

"I am s-sorry m-m-master." came the desperate reply, before the figure of Quirrell on a broom pounced on another enchanted key, failing miserably.

Quirrell, with Voldemort on the back of his head, was flying wildly all over the room trying to obtain the enchanted key in vain. The ineptitude of Quirrell on a broom evident, loud curses was heard as Quirrell yet again failed in his task. By a stroke of luck, however, the correct key then flew right in front of Quirrell, who took the opportunity with both hands, quite literally, and fell off his broom.

"Hurry to the next chamber you fool!" the furious voice of Voldemort demanded, already forgetting the miraculous feat Quirrell had just performed, only somewhat grateful that Quirrell landed with his own head towards the ground.

Despite aching all over his body, Quirrell reluctantly got up from the floor and dragged himself to the opposite end of the chamber, where he used the key to open the wooden door, not noticing the faint sound made when the key was placed in the keyhole.

* * *

-~ 3.8 ~-

Meanwhile, Harry was making his own way towards the scene, having instinctively known that something might be up with the Philosopher's Stone when he observed Quirrell and Dumbledore's behaviour. The fact that Voldemort was no longer on the back of Quirrell's head was disturbing - could he have taken over a student to steal the stone for him? Or worse could he have somehow obtained a proper body for himself already?

Harry found it much easier to be completely covered by his invisibility cloak since he was back to his eleven year old body. Adding a silencing charm to his clothes, shoes and cloak to avoid the sounds of his footsteps and rustling of his cloak, he made his way to the third floor corridor, knowing that the Voldemort may be well into his plan to steal the Philosopher's Stone for his own purposes.

Suddenly, to his surprise, he heard two very familiar voices when he was a few turns from the corridor.

"He's here. The map says so." said one voice.

"Well, either it's wrong or he's invisible." said the other.

"Or camouflaged. And the map has never been wrong before."

"Well they say there is a first time - "

"For everything. Or maybe not."

Harry cursed his own luck - he had completely forgotten about the twins and the fact that they had the Marauder's Map. The image of Fred and George whispering to each other in the Great Hall a few moments ago flickered in his mind. If it were not for Ron and Hermione they would not be dragged into this.

"Our seeker is making his way to the cerberus."

"For sure."

"Wonder if he can hear us."

"He just stopped on the map. He can definitely hear us. Hello little ickle Harrikins, what are you up to?"

"Isn't the cerberus a little dangerous for you?"

"You're not going to prank it are you?"

"Its far too risky - "

"Even if you are the Boy-Who-Lived. And where are you?"

"Are you invisible? How did you get invisible?"

"We'll compensate you handsomely if you show us how."

"That's right. If you still don't show yourself - "

" - We'll come looking for you!"

As Fred and George continued their own little conversation Harry had been considering his options. He could stun them and obliviate them, perhaps even taking the Marauder's Map in the process - but he was rather reluctant: though he was pretty sure his experience meant he could stun the pair fairly easily, especially given his advantage under the cloak, the last thing he wanted was for an obliviation to go wrong. Now that his magical core was back to his eleven year old self, he just did not want to risk anything, especially since that he did not practice his spellcasting at all. Stunning without wiping their memory is bound to attract questions later. He could run, but that would probably mean the twins will follow him to the corridor, and will also attract problems later. Finally, he could try and talk his way out, but unfortunately he had no idea how even to begin to explain the situation. Thinking back again on the Marauder's Map, he made his mind up as Fred and George's continued conversation started to make his head ache.

"_Stupefy!" _and one of the red heads went down in a heap from Harry's silent spell. Gaping in shock, the one which remained standing did not even have a chance to pull his wand before a second _stupefy _hit him in the chest, making him collapse on his brother.

Harry took the map from what he thought was George's hands and positioned the twins so that they lay in a more visually comfortable position, and prepared to continue his way to the location of the stone.

_Sorry guys. Certainly nice to see that my silent spellcasting is still fine though._ Harry thought, folding and putting the map in his pocket. He took one more look at the stunned twins. _ Well, I certainly hope that they can understand my explanation that they were pranked. __Hopefully an explanation on the creators of the map will be satisfactory for them. Maybe I will get some Galleons from my trust vault to let them start their careers early. Anyway I will try to think of a way to make it up to them._

* * *

-~ 3.9 ~-

When Harry arrived at the corridor the first thing he noticed was the enchanted harp just like last time. Already having forgotten the twins, Harry quickly playing the flute in case the cerberus can sense him even when invisible and went to open the trap door.

_Damn. Things are definitely turning out very different this time. Or perhaps not, as Voldemort is here once again before me. I can only hope that I am not too late this time._

"Lumos Duo." and with that, a bright beam of light was emitted from the end of his wand, instantly disabling the Devil's Snare below the trapdoor. Closing the trapdoor behind him just in time before Fluffy woke up, he made his way to the next chamber, where, to his surprise, he found the room seemingly starting to reset, and the wooden door closing. Without a second thought, Harry made a beeline for the opposite end of the chamber, where he made it into the next chamber just in the nick of time. There, to his surprise, he saw Quirrell on top of the black king in the middle of the game of Wizard's Chess under the faint light emitted from the chess pieces within the chamber.

_So it was someone else under disguise as Quirrell and under the Imperius in the Great Hall then, not Quirrell himself under the curse. Well - that hardly matters - Voldemort is here for the stone, and much earlier than last time too. _Harry thought, and looked back at the chess game in progress. _Hmm that chess position looks familiar - in fact it looks almost like the exact game that Ron played - but that should be impossible - or should it?_

Harry hesitated to move forwards before remembering from Death that one must suspect that someone is invisible nearby to look past the Cloak of Invisibility. No doubt that someone of Voldemort's experience, even at a reduced stated, will be surely able to detect any ordinary invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm. Deciding to put his trust into Death this time, as after all he is helping him achieve his goals, he moved silently across the chamber.

Just as the White Queen destroyed the black pawn on d3, Voldemort shouted through Quirrell's turban: "Ah the pieces have now calmed down. So this is a chess puzzle? A rather tame one though, as this game is now coming to an end, white must give up the queen or be checkmated. ROOK TO C3! Now only Qd5 or Qg5 will significantly delay checkmate." With that command, the black pieces finally listened to Voldemort and the Rook made his way from c5 to c3.

Oblivious to the plight of her King, the white queen proceeded to smash the rook on c3. Harry suddenly became aware of the current position - it was the EXACT position he, Ron and Hermione had. He clearly recollected that the black rook moved to shield himself, the black bishop on a3, and subsequently Ron heroically sacrificed himself, the Knight currently on g5, with the move Knight to h3, which was then captured by the rampaging queen. This allowed his bishop to move to c5 to give check to the white king on g1 without being under attack from the white queen, and this leads to unavoidable checkmate next move. Upon hearing from Voldemort that the pieces seemingly move on their own to set up the current position as a puzzle, Harry watched the game with increased interest, slowly edging his way to door of the next chamber under his invisibility cloak in the meantime.

"Bishop c5 check, now mate next move." came Voldemort's voice. He had, in fact, expected a much harder chess problem. This one had such a simple solution any competent chess player could solve it. Perhaps it wasn't too simple, but sitting on the King, he was at no risk as he was confident of his chess abilities.

_Well that's different as Ron sacrificed himself on h3 at this point._ Harry thought as he saw the black bishop eyeing the white King menacingly along its diagonal. Guess_ Voldemort has no concerns about protecting anything here, plus the fact that it does checkmate the White King one move earlier. _Harry watched as the white queen continued its rampage, smashing the bishop on c5. _That would have been me..._

"Knight to h3 checkmate. Now hurry to the next chamber!"

Harry remained motionless under his cloak as Quirrell made his way past him into the next room. Stealthily following Quirrell, he also made his way into the next chamber, where a mountain troll clumsily rushed towards Quirrell.

The mountain troll was confused. He had been in a dark room for the good part of a day now. Or was it a week? Food had mysteriously appeared in the room at regular intervals, but he was still hungry. With nothing to bash and nowhere to go, he was not in the best of moods when a human seemingly burst into his room. Unfortunately, he did not even have the opportunity to swing his club back before he was knocked completely unconscious by Quirrell_'s _stunning charm.

Quirinus looked in awe at his own wand at the feat - he, or rather Voldemort, had certainly become much more magically powerful ever since he drank the blood from the unicorn. The essence of Voldemort inside his head, however, immediately quashed any further thoughts and forced his body towards the next chamber.

As Harry moved across the chamber to follow them, he felt the first real thoughts of doubt come into his mind. _I cannot believe how powerful Voldemort is already - knocking out a mountain troll with just one spell? There is no way I will be a match for him. How on earth did I survive last time? How will I manage to obtain the stone against him? And where is Dumbledore - he definitely seemed to sense something in the Great Hall - but just where is he?_

Lost in his thoughts, it took him a few moments before Harry realised he had made his way into the chamber with the sixth obstacle and the door had closed - no vanished behind him, blending in completely with the wall. The chamber itself was vastly different to what it was before. Instead of the potions riddle by Snape, the chamber was completely empty, and charmed beams of lights illuminated the room from above. Harry silently explored the room, avoiding Quirrell in the process, but he found that it was simply an empty chamber with solid walls all around.

"_Bombarda Maxima." _shouted Voldemort, channeling the powerful spell into Quirrell's wand. Unfortunately, the wall in question remained unscathed. "Look around the room you fool!" and with that Quirrell obediently went around the room to look for clues.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Voldemort's furious voice some five minutes later, when no progress has been made.

I d-do not know, m-master." Quirrell was now visibly shaking, not only due to Voldemort's wrath, but also because of his current situation. Everything had gone according to plan initially: The dragon egg and a friendly conversation had made Hagrid lose vigilance, disclosing the secret to tame the cerberus. Then the unicorn blood had strengthened his master considerably – though it weakened him. A muggle was put under the Imperius and taken the Polyjuice Potion to buy some time, and the first five obstacles were passed with relative ease. However, now they were stuck in a room, with magically reinforced solid walls on all four sides and powerful wards and charms preventing escape, whether by apparition, portkey or otherwise. There was a faint line in the shape of a door in both ends of the room. The door behind had closed moments after they stepped in the room, and despite trying to find in vain for a secret mechanism to open the both doors, they had remained securely shut.

"M-master, are there no other s-spells we can use?" Quirrell said worriedly. "What about f-f-fiendfyre?"

"No you fool! Fiendfyre will kill you too. Continue searching!" the face of the back of Quirrell's head said. Voldemort knew of course that even if he had enough power to control fiendfyre the way he wanted it was probably still going to be futile. Dumbledore had indeed put a lot of work into this, and in his own haste he has walked right into the old man's trap.

Harry, meanwhile, has also grown increasingly anxious. He had expected to know every detail of the underground chambers protecting the Philosopher's Stone, but just days after traveling back things were turning out to be increasingly different. As he wondered what could have made Dumbledore, or indeed Snape, change the defence mechanisms for the stone, he realised the frightening circumstances he was in: he was trapped underground in the very same room as Lord Voldemort.

Shifting himself into a more comfortable position under the cloak, Harry decided that the only thing he can do right now is just wait. However, he had forgotten to reapply the silencing charms, and they were now beginning to wear off.

"Silence Quirrell!" shouted Voldemort, shocking both Quirrell and Harry. "I think I just heard something."

Harry swallowed. _This is bad. _He thought. _This is really really bad..._

* * *

**A/N: For chess fans, the chess position in question is in fact the exact position from the film. It is in FEN notation:  
5r1k/1pN3pp/1Pb5/n1r1P1n1/7N/b2p4/7P/1R1Q2K1 w - - 0 1  
**

**Next Chapter Preview: How does Harry get out from this mess? Or indeed does he? And where is Dumbledore? Find out next chapter!  
**

**Last update for chapter: 09/02/2015  
**


	5. Chapter Four - Voldemort's Virtues

**.**

**Chapter Four - Voldemort's Virtues  
**

* * *

-~ 4.1 ~-

"Fred? George? What the hell happened?" Angelina Johnson tried waking her fellow classmates to no avail.

"Angelina, I think they are both stunned." Alicia said with concern, looking at the two unresponsive boys, having made her way to George and shaking him for a response.

"By who?" Angelina asked, still puzzled by the events. She and Alicia had seen their beaters go out of the hall looking rather mischievous, and thus had proceeded to find out what they were up to. They had not expected them to be lying on the floor next to each other, without a third person in sight.

"Knowing them, it is probably each other. Let's wake them up and find out." Alicia was also puzzled, but it probably will not be too different from last time, when both twins had turned into chickens which crowed whenever they tried to talk. Or rather, whenever they tried to put the blame on each other.

As both girls cast _ennervate _on the respective boy they had in their arms, the two Weasley boys returned to consciousness.

"Angelina! What are you doing here? Huh...what happened?" Fred asked, sitting upright immediately after being revived.

"Alicia! Hmm...did we really get stunned?" George got up more slowly, but was equally as confused.

"Who the hell dared to stun you two?" Angelina queried, raising her voice somewhat, determined to take revenge. "Fred?"

"I am Gred, not Fred. But if we are not wrong - " Fred started.

"Then it was our seeker. And I am Forge, not George." George finished.

"Harry Potter?" Alicia asked in surprise.

"He's a bloody first year. Did you two try some sort of prank and stunned each other? And your Forge and Gred thing doesn't work on us." Angelina was not convinced.

"Nope. It was our Golden Boy." George said, a little disappointed they were never able to trick the pair after the very first time.

"The Boy-Who-Lived." Fred said. "But why in the name of Merlin would he stun us? If he thought that was a prank he is getting paid back."

"Yep. Big Time." George followed. "He was sneaking towards the third floor corridor though. That sneaky bugger."

"The map, the map, George where is the map?" Fred suddenly asked in a panicked voice.

"I don't have it. Do you think - "

"He must have. Bloody ickle Harrikins. Going to turn him into pickle for this."

"What map?" asked Angelina and Alicia in unison.

"Er...nothing." answered the twins back together.

Angelina let the whatever 'map' it was slide for now, she will question the twins later on it. Currently, however, there was the question of what to do now. "Should we get a professor? McGonagall? Or a prefect?"

"What? And tell her Harry was invisible and stunned us?" Fred was not about to go to any professor about this until he sorted out Potter himself first.

"What? What invisible? If he was invisible how did you know it was Harry? Are you certain there isn't an intruder in Hogwarts?" Concern returned in Angelina's voice, before she frowned in thought. _Wait a minute. Invisible Harry? Is Harry Potter some codename for some prank gone wrong? They bloody well stunned each other, didn't they?  
_

"We recognised his voice." George lied. "We will sort this - "

"Out by ourselves. Think we have been pranked. This is - "

"WAR." finished George. _And our prized possession has been taken too...but how? Why?  
_

"Hmm...well we have our match soon, and practice tomorrow. You guys better sort it out between you, our game gets priority. Revenge can come later, if it was indeed Harry Potter." Alicia said, still unconvinced.

As the twins thanked their Quidditch teammates and made their way back to the common room to start plotting, the girls were left behind, more curious than ever.

"Well, they were obviously lying." started Alicia. "Harry has no reason at all to stun them. Besides, a first year knocking both of them out? Ridiculous. They didn't even put any effort into the lie."

"Yeah. They can't tell a lie to us to save their lives." Angelina said. "I think this Harry Potter thing is definitely a code name for some prank gone wrong. The Golden Boy - something to do with gold? They have always been trying to get rich quick."

"Maybe. Or they stunned Harry and the stunner backfired. He is the Boy-Who-Lived, after all. If the Killing Curse backfired, an ordinary curse surely cannot do much better. Anyway, if Fred and George keep it up at this rate Hogwarts will probably be burnt down."

"Hmm I doubt that, unless they really wanted to. Are we still going to the fan club later this week?"

"Well, it's not as if Harry really stunned the twins, we can go if we like. But we have the match coming up, so we really should discuss tactics with Katie." Alicia replied. "What should we do about Fred and George?"

"They are obviously plotting something. I can tell from their body language. We will see them in classes and also Quidditch practice in the coming days, but in any case let's corner them sometime and make them spill their secrets." There was a gleam in Angelina's eye as she spoke.

"What makes you think that they will tell?" Alicia asked. For some reason unknown to her, Angelina always had her ways with boys. They just seemed to open up more to her. Even the twins. Especially the twins.

Angelina did not give a answer to her best friend's question, but only winked. "Let's go catch up with Katie."

* * *

-~ 4.2 ~-

**_Previously_**

_Harry, meanwhile, has also grown increasingly anxious. He had expected to know every detail of the underground chambers protecting the Philosopher's Stone, but just days after traveling back things were turning out to be increasingly different. As he wondered what could have made Dumbledore, or indeed Snape, change the defence mechanisms for the stone, he realised the frightening circumstances he was in: he was trapped underground in the very same room as Lord Voldemort._

_Shifting himself into a more comfortable position under the cloak, Harry decided that the only thing he can do right now is just wait. However, he had forgotten to reapply the silencing charms, and they were now beginning to wear off._

_"Silence Quirrell!" shouted Voldemort, shocking both Quirrell and Harry. "I think I just heard something."_

_Harry swallowed. 'This is bad'. He thought. 'This is really really bad...'_

"I sense someone nearby," said Voldemort, to no one in particular. "Hold yourself, fool!" Quirrell had started shaking all over, and the vibrations were greatly annoying Voldemort, who was trying to scan the room.

Just as Harry was contemplating his own survival, the two doors leading out of the chamber both opened, and much to Quirrell and Voldemort's (and Harry's) further surprise it was followed by Dumbledore stepping into the room from the final chamber.

"I have been waiting for you for a while now Quirinus. Or should I say Tom?"

"D-D-D…" Quirrell stuttered, his shaking getting uncontrollable, but before he could say any more his turban melted to reveal the ghostly face of Voldemort.

"Quiet you fool! And stop shaking! Dumbledore, so you have been suspecting us for a while now. But you were at the feast!" though Voldemort knew his diversion tactic would not last too long as Dumbledore will easily see through the fake Quirrell, he did not expect it to last such a short period of time either. Neither did it explain the fact that Dumbledore is somehow ahead of him, as he had personally seen through the muggle's charmed eyes that Dumbledore was still busy addressing students after he put the blasted dog to sleep.

"Indeed. But I had not anticipated you would act so soon. In fact I had put in another safety mechanism just two days ago. Now I know that was unnecessary, yet it had by coincidence had the desired effect in any case. Coincidence is a strange thing if you ask me, one would think – "

"Yes yes we are not here to listen to your boring speeches, Headmaster." Voldemort interrupted. "Fool! Release full control of your body NOW if you wish to live." Quirrell was furiously trying to run away while Voldemort was in the middle of his speech.

Quirrell obeyed, albeit reluctantly, conceding his body entirely to his Dark Lord's control. Meanwhile, unknown to the three other beings in the room, Harry Potter was holding in a sigh of relief. Once again, it seemed that Dumbledore had come to his rescue, though he came unknowingly this time. Silently casting the silencing charms on himself again, Harry continued to listen to the conversation with great interest, grateful for his silent casting abilities in the meantime.

"There is a no way to open the next door under normal circumstances. In fact this door shuts once you complete the third task, which is of course the only one up to that point which is unavoidable. The door to the final chamber only reopens when there is no one in this or any of the previous chambers." Dumbledore said, as he circled Voldemort.

"Then how would anyone get past this room?" Voldemort asked in curiosity. He was also walking clockwise slowly, maintaining a distance to Dumbledore, both of them weighing up their opponent and their chances.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled much to Voldemort's annoyance. "The same answer to your previous question, how I was at the feast, and yet made it in time here."

Harry was also confused - and rather disliked the headmaster's tendencies to speak in riddles.

Voldemort's face scrunched up in confusion for half a minute before relaxing again once he figured the puzzle out. "A Time Turner. So you used it twice: once to go back in time to enter the room before me, and once more to solve this puzzle." As Voldemort came to understand the situation, he could not help but be somewhat impressed by the old man's ingenuity, even if the method used is a little...bizarre. Even so, it was indeed the perfect trap, though regardless an attempt to steal the legendary stone was worth a try, even it if was obviously a trap. In fact Voldemort knew that walking into a trap knowing it is a trap; to adapt and turn an enemy's scheme against himself was a topic mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War, one of the rare pieces of muggle literature he allowed himself to read, and something he was trying to achieve in this case.

Voldemort's confusion convinced Dumbledore that he was unaware of the recent temporal disturbance. Even though this triggered other questions, this revelation made him feel much more comfortable: Abuse of time magic by Voldemort was the very last thing Albus wanted, having never fought anyone using time itself as a weapon. Nevertheless, his safety mechanism did its job. Anyone attempting to steal the stone had to pass they door, which can only be unlocked by the enchanted key. This sent a magical signal to him, and so wherever and whenever he was, he would be one step ahead by entering the chain of puzzles first using his Time Turner, even if whoever was attempting to steal the stone was using Time Turners themselves. He had been given quite the surprise to have received the signal this soon, but it seemed that at least everything was working out as he planned.

At the same time, Harry immediately knew that the use of a Time Turner by Dumbledore and him traveling back in time was not a coincidence. Deciding that it was little use to try and think it through right now, Harry continued to focus on the conversation between the two immensely powerful wizards. Or one wizard and one...whatever it currently was.

"But why would you want to use a Time Turner? Why would you even consider it for this?" Voldemort queried. He had never considered Time Turners to be of much use himself, even to him many of its properties were unexplained, and unwittingly erasing himself was not a risk he ever wanted to take. But if he was to be careful...maybe he could use one. Stealing one, after all, was not going to be difficult once he obtains a physical form.

"Because this is a trap Tom. A decoy. And you should know what those do - it lures one into it, yet does not allow one to come out of it. Now the same question also applies to you Tom. How are you here when you were also at the feast?" Dumbledore asked, though thinking back he already suspected the answer.

"Polyjuice of course. Under Imperious. Did he create a distraction? He was told to kill Harry Potter on sight. Had a muggle weapon on him." Voldemort smirked.

Dumbledore's face whitened, before quickly relaxing. The effects of the imperious on Quirrell in the Great Hall was now obvious, but at the time he was occupied with announcements - and then the signal that someone had entered the trap. That did not matter any more, though the fake Quirrell was one more thing he needed to sort after this finished. Luckily for him, he had a Time Turner. Looking back at Voldemort, Dumbledore smiled as he said: "One problem Tom. Does he recognise Harry?"

Voldemort cursed. He had forgotten the man they captured was a muggle. The question of 'who was Harry Potter' never occurred to him in his mind, as everyone knew who that bloody boy was. Everyone that mattered, that is. However, the muggle's order to kill Harry Potter was only a distraction, it was impossible for a muggle weapon to kill a wizard. Well, almost impossible. But if Potter was killed by a pathetic muggle weapon, then he was certainly not fit to die by his Killing Curse.

"What are your intentions Tom? There is no way out." Dumbledore solemnly said, taking Voldemort's silence as the rare admission that he missed something.

"We shall see if you can stop me this time." Voldemort unleashed a spell mid sentence, which Dumbledore casually blocked with a flick of his wand.

"That has always been one of your greatest weaknesses Tom. You are much too impatient. Patience is a virtue, after all. In fact, of the seven heavenly virtues, the only one you have is chastity." Dumbledore smiled as he faced the possessed Quirrell.

Voldemort's anger flared up as Dumbledore picked on his sexuality, or rather lack thereof. His barrage of spells at the headmaster, much like a fireworks display, only reached the headmaster's shield as Dumbledore again casually dismissed his spells. They had now both come to a halt after making one complete circle each, Quirrell's wand was pointed directly at Dumbledore, while Dumbledore's own Elder Wand was still held in a relaxed manner.

Harry gradually made his way towards the final chamber as he observed the duel. It seemed that Dumbledore was more powerful than ever, and from his memories Dumbledore's powers will wane in the coming years. It certainly seemed truthful that the Elder Wand increased one's magical power significantly, and in the hands of an experienced dueler like Dumbledore that made him nigh unstoppable. As he stared at the wand in Dumbledore's hand, he wondered again on the chances of him obtaining the wand from Dumbledore.

"You and your petty little traps can stop my objectives for now, but you will not be able to stop me from achieving my objectives for ever. In fact, your little trap cannot even contain me, only my servant." Voldemort said, cheekily sending two silent curses in the process. Of course, those spells were merely for annoying the old man rather than having any hope to cause damage. Just as Dumbledore was beginning to open his mouth to speak, however, Voldemort resorted to his trademark spell.

"_Avada Kedavra!" _And a bright green Killing Curse was sent towards the headmaster, only to be stopped halfway there by a conjured stone wall.

"Must you start resorting to Killing Curses now, Tom?" Dumbledore continued in his somewhat insulting tone, having completely been expecting Voldemort to try catching him off guard with a Killing Curse at some point. It was followed by two further _Avada Kedavra _spells, cast with an increasing tone of hatred, both of which were similarly blocked. Dumbledore chuckled as he continued: "You are slipping Tom. How predictable you become when you are angry. Unicorn blood will give you power only for a limited time, and you have wasted much of that with your three Unforgivables."

For half a moment, Harry was tempted to disarm the headmaster from behind, as Dumbledore had his back to the door to the next chamber. However, he quickly dispelled any such thought, as even if he succeeded in obtaining power over the wand, he was surely condemning the headmaster to his death. That was something he will never forgive himself for, even if he does find it a little hard even now to completely forgive the old man for placing him at the Dursleys all those years ago. Instead, Harry made his way to the mirror in the next chamber, leaving the two wizards to fight it out.

Upon reaching his mirror, Harry focused his thoughts into one of the Philosopher's Stone falling into his pocket. Once he felt the stone in his pocket, Harry took it out and examined it. It had seemed real enough; it was like a red gemstone that faintly glowed from its centre. For fear of attracting attention if he were to destroy it now, he silently cast _Geminio_, and to his surprise he made an identical looking duplicate, and wished the duplicate into the Mirror of Erised. Instantly the duplicate vanished, and Harry was somewhat surprised that he had miraculously achieved everything on his first try. Unable to restrain himself, Harry took one more look at the Mirror of Erised, admiring the image, before pulling himself away and towards the exit, reapplying his silencing charms just in case.

As he made his way back into the previous chamber, he saw Voldemort and Dumbledore still firing spells at one another, but it seemed clear that Dumbledore had the upper hand; Quirrell's body was being forced further and further towards a corner of the chamber.

Harry, however, had no interest to see the duel any further. The outcome certain, Harry continued his way back through the chambers, and decided that he had to dispose of the stone in the nearest place he felt he will be undisturbed - the Room of Requirement.

Back in the chamber, Voldemort had already stopped casting offensive spells with Quirrell's wand and was now resorting to verbal attacks, much to Dumbledore's amusement. "You are too old now. You will not last another decade." Ignoring Voldemort's taunts, Dumbledore sent two disarming spells, which were just about blocked by Voldemort's shield.

"Do you only use disarming spells, old man? Do you miss your old friend Grindelwald? I paid him a visit you know. He is still rotting away in jail." Voldemort continued to try and bait Dumbledore. "And so much for your chastity, old man. Seems that together we have all the virtues, and together we have committed all the sins. Just like Yin and Yang, Dumbledore. Neither of us can live without the other." Voldemort had known much of Dumbledore's darker secrets, having spied on him and considered him to be his greatest enemy.

Furious at the Grindelwald remark, Dumbledore sent two cutting curses in quick succession, passing through the Dark Lord's shield and severing Quirrell's left hand, before stopping, somewhat ashamed at his outburst. The only comfort was that Quirrell was already as good as dead, otherwise he would be left with another scar in his heart. His cutting curse was of quite a dark nature, a more powerful modification of Severus' own creation, _Sectumsempra_, and one that did not have a counter curse. As he calmed down, Dumbledore became surprised at how knowledgeable Tom Riddle was. He was a genius, for sure, but he never thought he would take any interest into religion or other cultures. Unfortunately, the fact that Tom Riddle had this extra knowledge only made him more dangerous. The final remark, replayed in his mind, also worried him. It sounded too much like the prophecy, but surely it is a coincidence?

"That still a sore spot for you, old man? So Headmaster, are you going to use the stone for your own purposes? You never planned to give the stone back to the Flamels, did you?" By now Voldemort had completely stopped casting, even defensive spells. Quirrell was desperately attempting to retake control of his body, and attempting to force Voldemort to beg Dumbledore for mercy. Unfortunately for him, once control of his body was completely relinquished, it was extremely difficult to regain.

"I will look forward to my next great adventure after you have been defeated Tom. Immortality is much more a curse than a blessing, and a cursed immortality is just so much worse. So Tom, are you going to enlighten me on the events of Halloween all those years ago? Are you trapped forever in spirit form, waiting for a hapless follower of yours to come for you to possess?" Of course, Dumbledore suspected something more sinister, but was afraid to voice it in case he was incorrect and only gave Voldemort more ideas.

"I will never be defeated, old man. Your time will be up soon, and your prophecy child is just a skinny weakling, he will never be a match for me." Voldemort, of course, would never give any clue leading to knowledge of his Horcruxes. "Speaking of Yin and Yang, Why don't you join me headmaster. Together we will complete the picture and we will be unstoppable!"

"Who says I will not use to Philosopher's Stone to prolong my life to ensure your defeat, Tom?" Dumbledore taunted, completely ignoring Voldemort's proposal. In fact, if not for the fact that he was already getting tired of life, he would almost be tempted. Tempted to use the stone, of course, not join Voldemort. His last fifty years on the planet were the most lonely - his old friends and foes have mostly all passed away, his responsibilities means he lives a life of duty, unable to pursue any pleasantries in life except for the odd lemon drop and other confectioneries. In fact, only the children at Hogwarts keeps him going, seeing the innocent and carefree nature of youth drove him on. However, there was now a ominous cloud over their future, and he felt more weary than ever before.

Voldemort, aware that Dumbledore was most likely taunting him, believed that it was still a possibility that Dumbledore will use the stone himself. With the last of his energy, he held his Quirrell's wand aloft and cast fiendfyre, much to Dumbledore's horror, and with that Quirrell collapsed onto the floor.

Directing the fiendfyre towards the final chamber, Voldemort shouted: "If I cannot have it, neither can you, old man!" The Dark Lord sent one last taunt before Quirrell's body gave up on him.

As the unnatural face on the back of Quirrell's face faded, a spirit could be seen rising up among the fiery flames into the air and out of the chamber, leaving the headmaster behind to deal with the fiendfyre, which quickly consumed the rest of Quirrell's body and severed hand.

Despite Dumbledore's desire to destroy the stone, he felt that letting it become destroyed without consulting Nicholas was unthinkable; he could not condemn them to death, even if he does believe it is for the greater good. Indeed, in his carelessness he had already failed Quirrell, even if it was clear that his remaining life expectancy was probably measured in hours. Using his Elder Wand, Dumbledore willed all his strength into attempting to control the fiendfyre. Voldemort had drained Quirrell completely of all his magic to create these flames, and it was powerful enough such that fiery serpents danced out from the flames.

Fortunately for Dumbledore, the power of the Elder Wand was one that sometimes he himself could not fathom, and with it the flaming serpents were pushed into each other. With the boundary of the flames getting ever smaller due to the power of Dumbledore's shield, the flames finally died down, leaving behind more magical serpents - this time Ashwinders.

Dumbledore collapsed to the ground, drained of almost all his energy. He watched as the light sensitive serpents which rose from the magical fire made their way to a darkened corner of the chamber to lay its eggs. After seeing the eggs being laid and the Ashwinders themselves turning into dust, the headmaster sent multiple freezing charms to the eggs with the last of energy. Finally convinced that he was now totally safe, Dumbledore let his body rest as he finally drifted off to sleep, with his last thought being the fact that he was unable to save Quirrell, even for a few minutes, to hear if he had any last wishes.

* * *

-~ 4.3 ~-

_I need a place to hide an object. I need a place to hide the stone. I need a place to hide the Philosopher's Stone._ Harry thought, as he paced about the seventh floor corridor, still in his invisibility cloak. He was still reluctant to destroy it, as that was equivalent to murder. He still had time, and so he needed to think things through.

When he entered the door which materialised after his thoughts, he found himself in the Room of Hidden things. It looked almost identical from last time he entered, when he, with Ron and Hermione, destroyed the Horcrux inside the room. However, this time the Vanishing Cabinet was not there, but that was expected as it moved there later by Malfoy.

As he took off his cloak and shrunk it into his pockets, his thoughts then went to Ravenclaw's Diadem and the stone in his pocket. _Well, I can place the Stone here and cast fiendfyre to get rid of both the Horcrux and the Philosopher's Stone. Or maybe not, knowing me I probably will kill myself with it. Besides, would fiendfyre destroy the Room of Requirement? I can't do that - I would need to use this room in the future. Besides, there is bound to be things useful against Voldemort in this room. Ravenclaw's Diadem - it boosts intelligence right? Maybe I should find a way to remove the soul inside without destroying the object, it would make a good present to Hermione. Or Cho. Or Luna. Or Ginny. Oh whatever, I am definitely not going to touch that cursed object yet. Now where should I put the stone?_

As he thought of his next action, Harry sat down and looked around the room. On this closer inspection, however, he found that it was not only the Vanishing Cabinet which was different, there was a huge potion cauldron behind a pile of junk which he was sure he had not seen before, and a stash of muggle alcohol near the entrance of the room. In fact, he was sure there were other items he had never seen before, and some piles of junk seemed different to what he remembered.

_Oh Merlin, I hope the cauldron does not belong to Snape. So someone else knows about this room then? Well, professor Trelawney knows, and that alcohol is probably hers. Maybe I will get her a guide to quit drinking sometime. Well, the house elves know as well: Dobby had hidden Winky here once. Damn...seems like I can't just hide the stone here, what if it is found? Actually, what if the Horcrux was found? Hmm...well it was not found the first time, and I can't just go get it now - it is far too dangerous. But the stone - no - I need a different Room._

Harry then exited the room, and once again paced up and down the corridor, this time thinking: _I need a room that only I can enter. I need a room that is protected by a password. I need a private room which only I can enter and is protected by the password 'Deathly Hallows'._

A door appeared, and to his surprise the portrait of a stunningly beautiful woman also appeared, who promptly asked: "Password?"

Harry took a closer look at the figure in the portrait. She had jet black hair and grey eyes, and was wearing an all black garment. Her face, however, was smooth and pale, and one that bespoke beauty.

"You are Rowena Ravenclaw." Harry stated. She looked much more beautiful than her Chocolate Frog Card, though Harry thought she could have better taste in colours.

"That is the incorrect password. But you are correct in that I am Rowena." The portrait replied with a distinct Scottish accent.

"Deathly Hallows." replied Harry, and the door opened. Before going in, Harry asked: "Wow, you really are Rowena Ravenclaw. Can we talk?"

The woman in the portrait chuckled a little. "It is not just you who's surprised. Come in first, I will be behind the door."

After closing the door behind him, Harry immediately turned to the portrait that was hanging on the door.

"Wow, I never knew there was a portrait of you." Harry started.

The portrait looked at Harry, before replying, "You are at most thirteen. Yet you know this room, and you want to create your _own_ private room here. You must know the nature of this room very well."

"Er...yeah I do." Harry was a little lost for words, and looked around the room. It was a rather small room this time, vastly different from the Room of Hidden Things. It looked very cosy, with old fashioned furniture neatly arranged around the room. It had black tapestries around the room, and a bed in the corner.

"This room is my own chambers." said Rowena. Harry felt a little embarrassed at that, which again made the portrait chuckle.

"Why are you here?"

"Godric, Helga, Salazar and I all have portraits, young one. We all decided that we should use our portraits to guard one secret of Hogwarts. Of course, the two men never took this game of ours seriously, and simply put their portraits in front of secret passages they created, and were found quickly. You still have not told me your name, young one."

"Harry, I am Harry Potter." Harry said, feeling a little sheepish at having forgotten that. "Yeah we all know about Gryffindor and Slytherin's portraits. No one knows about yours or Helga's though."

"Well, you know now. And you are not quite the first to find me. Nor the second."

"Okay, I think I can live with being third." Harry cheekily replied.

"So, Harry Potter. Why do you need a room guarded with a password? And what is 'Deathly Hallows'?"

"Er..." Harry hesitated, his thoughts back to the stone.

"It is quite all right, young one. I will not force you to answer if you do not wish so."

"Thanks. So you created this room?"

The portrait laughed lightly this time, before answering: "Creating this room will be too much, even for me. I had help, from someone who was once my student, but far surpassed me."

"Merlin." Harry answered.

"Correct, or Myrddin as I knew him. All four of us taught him, and he quickly became better than all of us in our fields. He helped me create what was my greatest puzzle. In fact, though this room was my idea, it was almost entirely his creation."

"So how exactly does this room work?"

"It is sentient, much like how I am or any other portrait is. Except this room is designed to absorb excess magic from Hogwarts, and with it it is able to conjure up the most suitable room from a choice of thirteen rooms based on the desire of the individual requesting it."

"I thought the room could create whatever one wished?"

"There are only thirteen different sized rooms available. The smallest is the size of a broom cupboard, the largest a cathedral sized room spanning many acres. Space cannot simply be created from magic, it can be extended, but with the thirteen different sized rooms it has reached its limit. The furniture in each room is conjured by magic and can take the shape of whatever is desired, even rooms within rooms can be created this way. This can give the illusion that there are infinitely many different rooms available, which is not the case. However, any physical objects left behind will remain in the room." the portrait explained.

"Why thirteen?"

"Unfortunately, I am not too sure myself. Arithmancy was little studied during my time, although I had interest myself in it. It is a significant magical number, and Myrddin probably knew why or at least had an idea, but I never asked. It was not polite to ask someone who was once your student."

"So how does this room work? My password is surely different from whoever first found you, so if someone else where to request a password protected room - "

"You are very thoughtful for your age. Do not worry, this room was at the centre of the creation of the Rooms of Requirement, so it branches out in secret passageways to the twelve other rooms here. Each passageway is protected by a password. So technically the room that only you can enter will be in fact the passageway. However, you are only the third person to find this room, and the youngest, with the previous one being around three centuries back. Hence I do not think you need to worry."

"So there are twelve secret passageways linking rooms here in the Room of Requirement in total?"

"Rooms of Requirement, it is not just one room, after all. In answer to your question, not quite. All rooms except for this one are linked to four other rooms via secret passageways in addition to being linked to this central room. Gives a total of thirty-six passageways. Additionally, other places can become linked with any room, except for this central room, by a secret passageway. However, those passageways would have to be created and maintained." Rowena replied. "So much for your questions, Mr Potter. Are you going to tell me anything about yourself?"

Harry hesitated, before replying: "We can always talk later, but right now I need to hide an object here." Harry briefly thought on whether Death's contract meant he could tell a portrait he traveled back in time, but quickly decided that it was definitely not worth risking thirteen lives.

"You are very strange for someone this young, but I suppose I have met plenty like you and some who are even more mystifying."

"Er...Rowena, can I call you Rowena?"

"I don't see why not. But do not dare take advantage of that!"

"I won't, I promise. I am just wondering whether you could help me with becoming more powerful, there is a dark wizard who wants me dead." Harry thought that the help from one of the brightest and most powerful witches in history would be invaluable.

"I am afraid I am just a portrait. I was dying when my portrait was made, and I only have my personality, knowledge of the Rooms of Requirement, and some limited abilities to learn and memorise. In fact, I think you will find most portraits are like this, it is just not possible to pour too much knowledge into a portrait. Leaving journals behind is probably the best bet, but my daughter took mine." There was a hint of sadness as she spoke this, but brightened as she continued: "Besides, how would I know you are not in fact lying? You could very well be trying to learn powerful magic from me in order to become dark and take over the world yourself."

"Ha, I suppose. But today I really need to get on with what I have to do. I will come again soon though, beautiful one."

"Very charming. You continue to astound me, Harry. Due to the death of the two individuals who had their own passageways, you can choose any one you wish. So which one will it be?"

Without a second thought, Harry answered: "The one between this room and the largest cathedral room; the Room of Hidden Things."

"Very well."

Some ten minutes later, Harry had deposited the stone in a locked trunk conjured by the room in his own passageway, protected by his password.

_Merlin, I am paranoid. _He thought, before asking Rowena's portrait one last question.

"So where is Helga's portrait?"

"I cannot tell you that, young one. But I will give you a clue. She loved food."

Harry subsequently said goodbye to Rowena, promising to visit her again soon, and happily made his way out, completely unaware that he no longer had his cloak on.

* * *

-~ 4.4 ~-

"Where in God's name am I? What the hell is this?" shouted Quirrell, attracting everyone's attention to the staff table. Less than half of the students remained, and of the ones left most had finished eating and were just chatting to their friends and catching up.

"What is up with you Quirinus?" Snape asked. After being asked by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Quirrell, he had frequently glanced at the Defence professor, and seen that Quirrell had not been himself this evening. The fool did not seem like he was up to anything though, so Snape had mostly dismissed Quirrell's unusual behaviour. The latest outburst puzzled Snape, however.

"What happened to my voice? Why have I been sitting here all this time? What is this place? Who are all of you?" Quirrell looked around in confusion. "And who is Harry Potter? Why have I been told to kill him if I can?" There was a stunned silence in the room, before the man who looked exactly like Quirrell continued: "What happened to me? My body, my ha- "

Without hesitation, Severus Snape stunned the man mid sentence and took him away towards Dumbledore's office, followed closely by Minerva, Filius and Pomona. As the four head of houses made their way out, the Great Hall descended into chaos as almost all the remaining students started gossiping about the recent turn of events.

"'at di ot jst happn." Ron said, his mouth gaping, with food still inside. No one commented on his table manners for once, as everyone else were either shocked to silence or were gossiping on what just happened.

Hermione also remained stunned for a few seconds, before shouting out: "HARRY!" Aggressively dragging Ron out of the hall, followed by a timid Neville, she continued: "We must find Harry now, he is in danger!"

"Where shall we go?" asked Neville.

Hermione stopped in her tracks at this. Harry had just left earlier, rather abruptly, and she had no idea where he would be. Remembering back on the conversion, '_I just don't feel like eating at the moment and want to take a walk'_, Hermione replied: "I am not sure. But lets hurry to the common room and the dorms first. We may get a clue of where he went if he is not already there."

"That sounds like a good idea." Neville agreed, following Hermione who had just sped off.

"Wait up guys! Mum said it's not good to run after having just eaten." Ron complained.

"Well, we finished much earlier." Neville replied, his voice already getting distant. "Come on!"

_Oh, whatever. _Ron thought, before scampering after the pair, determined to catch up.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! Please review~**

**Minor spelling and grammar changes to previous chapters, and chapter titles also added.**

**I know regarding the portraits of Helga and Rowena, that does not exactly follow canon, but they were minor ones which did not have any impact at all on the storyline, so I have adapted them for my own use.**

**Also, please review, as reviews do encourage me to write more, especially now that the initial awe of having written something for fanfiction is wearing off. Also I think I may be over complicating some things.  
**

**Next Chapter Preview: We meet more students! Including Draco and his Slytherin classmates. And what will the twins be up to?  
**

**Last update for chapter: 13/02/2015**


	6. Chapter Five - Draco Dreams

**.**

**Chapter Five - Draco Dreams  
**

* * *

-~ 5.1 ~-

"Scarhead."

"Malfoy." Harry had just returned from the Rooms of Requirement, having placed the stone there for future destruction. The interaction with Rowena had been pleasant, but he had forgotten to put his cloak back on after. He thought he did not need it though, but at the very least he should have used the recently acquired Marauder's Map. It was just unfortunate he bumped into Malfoy on his way back to the common room. He did not recognise the voice at first - Draco's voice had changed much over the years. However, Harry had quickly worked out that only one person would ever call him 'scarhead'.

"The mudblood and blood traitor not around? How unfortunate for you." At this point Crabbe and Goyle were seen coming from around the corner. Harry had briefly wondered what will happen to Malfoy once he gets rid of Voldemort, before Malfoy's outburst brought back his anger.

"You need to understand that hanging out with the wrong lot will ruin you." Draco added, his smile getting bigger.

Harry sighed, and suppressed his anger somewhat. He did not want to go through this now, and wished he had put the cloak on when he go out from the Room of Requirements. "Do not use that word in front of me again." he said in a stern tone.

"Pureblood. Halfblood. Mudblood. What is wrong with that? It is the correct term, Potter. Unless you want to suck her blood dry and call her Noblood." Draco laughed, and Crabbe and Goyle laughed with him at his crude joke, if it can be called one.

"Do you miss me that much, Draco? Have you been looking all over for me?" Harry taunted.

Draco instantly blushed, as Harry was spot on. He had went looking for what Potter was up to when he left the hall, only to be unable to find him anywhere, until now. "Shut up Potter." Draco said, straightening himself into a more formal posture.

"Oh...so you have been looking for me. Seriously Malfoy, stop this. I have no mood to argue with you, and you were the one who chickened out from our midnight duel." Harry still recalled when Malfoy had tried to trick him into Filch.

"That's a lie Potter! Let's duel right now!" Malfoy said as he brought his wand up, with his goons Crabbe and Goyle doing the same.

Harry, releasing it was three on one, and that it would be suspicious if he beat them all himself, immediately brought his hands up.

"Okay, okay, I yield. So you win Malfoy. Happy?"

"No." said Malfoy, smirking. _"Stupefy."_

"_Protego." _Harry cast his shield well in time, having anticipated Malfoy's backstabbing tendencies. Though it was a much weaker shield than we he used be able to conjure up, it still did its job and blocked Malfoy's stunner. "You will find that you will not be able to defeat me, even three on one. I suggest you retreat while you still can, before I get angry."

"We'll see about that, Potter. _Locomotor Mortis._" Draco was surprised of Harry's knowledge of the Shield Charm - he had learnt it himself from his father but could nowhere near produce anything effective. Meanwhile, the new spell Draco cast caught Harry unawares, as he did not expect Draco to cast such a curse. "Got you now, Potter."

Furious at his own slip-up, and deciding being passive was no longer an option, he immediately cast the counter curse for the leg-locker curse, followed by "_Expelliarmus._" Harry cast his signature spell, and took Draco's wand as it flew to him, who was shocked at both Harry's knowledge of the counter curse, and the speed at which Harry cast the disarming charm.

"You cheated! Dumbledore has been giving you private lessons!" Malfoy screamed, ungracious in defeat. Knowing the arsenal of spells Harry just cast was definitely at least fourth or fifth year knowledge, so in Draco's mind Harry had received dueling help, for sure.

"Oh do shut up Malfoy." Harry said. Crabbe and Goyle, though they both had their wands pointed at Harry, dared not cast a spell. "Look, I will not bother you if you don't bother me. Who knows, maybe we can even be friends."

"Yeah right Potter." In his mind, there was no chance Draco Malfoy would ever become friends with Harry Potter, not after how he rejected him. However, Draco also knew he was currently no match for his archenemy, so perhaps pretending to be friends would be advisable now. He will need his father to teach him more dueling in the meantime. Perhaps he will need to learn some powerful dark curses, maybe even an Unforgivable. Thinking of his father Draco threatened, "Wait until my father hears about your private lessons. Will cost Dumbledore his headmaster job, favouring Gryffindor students and privately training students. That old coot has been in it for too long, anyway. It is about time someone taught him a lesson."

"I did not have lessons with Dumbledore, Draco. Can't you just face the fact that right now I am better than you?" Harry said, ignoring Draco's disrespect for the headmaster. "So, how about it? A truce?"

Draco thought for a little while, and answered: "On one condition."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Malfoy. You are clearly no match for me. Why do you think I will agree to anything you say?"

"As long as you do not join the dueling club, Potter." The dueling club has been on the back of his mind since it was announced a few hours ago. He had been boasting to Crabbe and Goyle that he was certain to top the first years. However, he now understood that Harry would be major competition, and deduced that if he could get rid of him, it would significantly boost his chances. Besides, right now a truce for him would not be so bad in any case.

_Oh...so he wants to win the dueling competition. Well, I suppose it would not be fair for me to participate anyway, plus I don't want everyone knowing my capabilities. Draco will keep quiet in any case - he would never say that I bested him. I guess agreeing to his condition will get him off my tail for this year. _Harry thought, before replying: "Okay, I agree I will not attend the dueling club. So, truce?"

"Alright Potter." _For now_. Draco added in this thoughts, and offered his right hand, which Harry returned the favour. They shook hands and Draco took back his wand. Just as Harry turned his back and made to his common room, Draco shouted out to Harry's retreating figure: "Don't be so pleased, Potter. There are signs the Dark Lord is returning, and then you will be truly finished."

"Whatever Malfoy. You are not thinking of hexing me again, are you?" Harry spoke, his back still on Draco. "You know it will probably turn out badly for you... And also, do NOT use that word again. It won't just be your pride you will be losing next time."

Draco took a step back. He was just having thoughts of hexing Potter when he warned him of such an action's consequences. _Well, I guess it was worth a try. Anyway Potter must be dumb, agreeing to the condition. Ha - wait till father hears of this - I can control him like my minion._

Draco looked behind at his two accomplices and said: "You two are useless. Slytherin is no place for cowards." Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle, who both gave grunts to that. Furious, Draco sent both of them a leg locker curse for being cowards. "Next time just curse away. Worst Potter does is just disarm you, what are you afraid of? Work out how to get out yourselves. Worst case scenario you will have to hop back. Any word on today's encounter and I will skin you both." With that, the Slytherin blonde made his way back to the dungeons, leaving the other two behind.

* * *

-~ 5.2 ~-

"Got you Harrikins." said a Weasley in front of him.

"No escape now. And no tricks." said his twin behind him.

_Oh great, _thought Harry, _out of the frying pan and into the fire...why oh why did I not put on my invisibility cloak? _Harry was only a few more turns from the common room and safety, and now the twins are onto him just after his encounter with Malfoy. Such was his luck. As for the twins, he could never work out which is which, but right now he could not care less.

"Fred. George. How may the little Harrikins serve you?" Harry asked, raising his wand to be on his guard just in case. The twin behind him, perhaps Fred, was now also standing in front of him, but not before brushing past Harry as he went past, and sending a chilly feeling down his spine.

"You stunned us." Fred accused. Or was it George?

"And took our map." the other twin continued the accusations.

"Yes. And yes. The map is not yours by the way - it belongs to the Marauders. One of which is my dad." Harry said calmly.

"You must be joking."

"Lying. Want us to set - "

"Your pants on fire?"

"I am not lying, I swear." said Harry.

"Tell us about the map. Prove it."

"The pass-phrase to activate is _I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_. To close it is _Mischief Managed._ It was created by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, which were the animagus nicknames for the students who created the map. My father is Prongs, by the way. It is also enchanted so it is impossible to be used by Snape, and will insult him if he attempts to use it."

"Really? Snape?"

"Yes really. I doubt you would want to try though. Anyway, it rightfully belongs to me. And surely you guys know the secret passages by now."

"Yes, like the back of our hand."

"But the map is good for tracking. Speaking of which - "

"Where you invisible? And did you cast silently?"

"George, it was not wise to track me with the Marauder's map. I learned the disillusionment charm from my father's notes. He was the very best at charms, you see, having also been one of the creators of the map." Harry said, looking at them in turn. He had decided that this time he would not let anyone know of his invisibility cloak, not even his best friends, especially as Death was bound to take it back at some point anyway.

"But you are an orphan. And I am George."

"Raised by muggles. No I am George."

"Forge, Gred, whatever. I was raised by muggles, but I received all this information when I went to my vault in Gringotts. My parents left me a wealth of information there. My dad left notes on how to cast silently as well as lots of useful charms, and my mother left a wealth of information on potion making." Harry continued his lie in a convincing tone. He was also somewhat surprised by the twins' attitude, he had expected two angry red heads confronting him, yet they still had mood for jokes.

"So..." began Forge.

"You pranked us?" asked Gred.

"Yes, in a way. I was on a mission to find out what was in the third floor corridor after Dumbledore mentioned it again. But you guys had to follow, didn't you? I am afraid that I will have to keep the map, though I may lend it to you at times if you really need it. But also I am willing to make you guys an offer."

The twins both became suspicious. It seemed that ickle Harrikins was not quite as harmless as he appeared - he has a wealth of knowledge under him.

"Why did you go there again, you already knew about the cerberus. Ron told us - "

"I was just checking if anything changed since Dumbledore mentioned it again. And I was just bored, like you guys. That good enough?" Harry was getting impatient with the twin's questioning.

"So what kind - "

"Of offer?" It seemed like the twins were not too interested by him investigating the third floor corridor. Harry guessed (correctly) that the twins probably visited the corridor often themselves. Harry felt a wave of relief inside - the whole thing may indeed be passed off as a prank by the twins.

"I know you guys just like to have fun, like pranking and don't like to be pranked. I'll give you an idea - you guys can create your own joke shop, I will even give you guys the start up funds - for a share of future profits."

"Really Harry? You know if you lie to us - "

"We will make your life hell."

"I promise. Besides, I think you two will be great and will sure have a successful career."

"Isn't it a little early for you to think about that?"

"And how did you think of the joke shop anyway?"

"Yeah that's our secret ambition!"

"Well you are certainly more than meets they eye..."

"I am the Chose One. The Boy-Who-Lived. The vanquisher of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Of course I am more than meets the eye." Harry slightly boasted, enjoying the widening of the twins' eyes as he mentioned You-Know-Who's name.

"Hmm, I think you are asking - "

"To be knocked down. But as for your offer - " The redhead who spoke looked at the other.

"Okay, we can take you up with that offer."

"We will discuss details about it later."

"But don't think that you will get away with pranking us that easily!"

"We will get you back. You will pay for your treachery!"

"You have - "

"Been warned!"

"But we will - "

"HARRY! Harry...are you okay?" It was Hermione who interrupted his conversation with the twins. She was panting heavily, and soon followed by Ron and Neville.

"Where have you been Harry, we have been looking for you for ages. We thought...we thought..." Hermione continued.

"I am fine, I have just been walking around the castle." Harry replied. "What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Hermione took a little time to catch her breath, before replying, "It's Quirrell. He was in a confused state. Said that he was told to kill you."

"What?" Harry's mind blanked as he only gave a one-worded reply.

"Yeah mate, it's bloody crazy. He's probably a Death Eater, you know." Ron added.

"Language, Ron. But he's right, Harry." said Hermione.

"When was this?" Harry asked

"About half an hour after you left." Hermione said. "Where were you, we were so worried!"

"I was just in an empty classroom." Harry replied. "So what else did Quirrell say?"

"Only that he was told to kill you. But he was really confused. Asked where he was and everything." Neville spoke up.

"Really? Or is this a prank on a professsor?" quipped one of the twins.

"Would be one of the best pranks ever!" added the other.

"Fred! George! What are you two doing here?" asked Ron. Their focus on Harry distracted them from acknowledging the presence of his twin brothers.

"Just having a little fun - "

"With our ickle Harrikins."

"Oh." said Harry, as his mind processed all this. _Of course, _Harry thought, _The fake Quirrell was under the Imperius. Guess that must have ended when Voldemort was defeated. But if he was told to kill me...why didn't he?_

"Snape stunned him though, and together with the other professors they took Quirrell away. We ran here as fast as we could, hoping to find you in the common room or the dormitories." Hermione continued.

"Thanks guys." Harry said, genuinely happy that his friends cared so much for him.

They made their way to the common room, with each of them supplying their own theories to the events. As the common room filled, more and more Gryffindor students went to Harry and asked him about his opinion of events. Harry, of course, did not disclose anything, and only admitted to being as puzzled as everyone else was. It was only when McGonagall came and ordered everyone to their dorms for bedtime that the gossiping died down.

* * *

-~ 5.3 ~-

"Draco! You missed all the fun at the end of the feast!" Pansy started once she saw Draco when she made her way back to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Fun? What fun?" Draco was not in a good mood, and really did not have the patience for Pansy's gossips. Even though Potter agreed not to participate in the dueling club, he was still angry the three of them could not teach Potter a lesson. Besides, it was only Potter's word he counted on. His father had warned him not to enter any magically binding agreements, as one wrong action and his magic may be in danger. In fact, he was quite certain he would break their verbal agreement in any case, once he won the dueling competition and learnt some Dark Arts. Plus, it was much either to bribe people these days...

"Quirrell wanted to kill Harry Potter!" Pansy shrieked.

Draco turned his head towards Pansy in disbelief, thinking he heard wrong. Quirrell was in his mind no more than a fool. Killing Harry Potter was a decent idea, but by that stuttering fool? He was not worthy of the task.

"Quirrell _was told _to kill Harry Potter." Daphne Greengrass corrected, hearing Pansy's high pitched voice from a few metres away. Draco turned to the girl who had chestnut blonde hair and blue eyes. In Draco's mind, Daphne was one of the prettiest girls in the year, though he would never admit he found any girls pretty. However, what was more important was that his father had instructed him to be friends with her, as they were one of the oldest pure-blood families.

"Yes, and he seemed confused about everything. Asked where he was. Almost as if he forgot everything." Tracey Davis, the best friend of Daphne, said as they both along with two other girls made their way to Draco.

"It was all very strange." Lily Moon, a slim built brown haired girl who who glasses, added.

Draco was even more puzzled now. He turned to the one remaining student in their group who had yet to speak up.

"Yes, what Daphne and Tracey said." Millicent said, when it was apparent Draco was waiting for her to speak.

"Where are Crabbe and Goyle? They are always with you." asked Pansy.

"I practiced cursing them for the upcoming dueling club." said Draco dismissively. "They are in a leg-locker curse. I don't know the counter curse, so they either need help from a prefect or professor, or they can hop back. Or they can wait until it wears off, but that will be past curfew_." __Serves them right, _added Draco in his thoughts.

The girls paled at Draco's admission. He was certainly not someone you wanted to get on the bad side of. For Daphne and Tracey, they could only hope that Draco will not find out they are part of the newly created 'Harry Potter Fan Club'.

"So what happened?" asked Draco, curious on the events.

"Well, Snape took Quirrell away after casting a spell on him." said Pansy, determined to get into Draco's good graces.

"Yes, Snape stunned Quirrell, who was taken away by the four head of houses. Dumbledore was absent for some reason." Daphne said. Daphne's more complete and accurate description somewhat annoyed Pansy, even if Daphne was rather oblivious to that fact.

"Oh," said Draco. Deciding he was bored and that it was uncool to be around girls, he continued: "Well someone get help for Crabbe and Goyle then. They will never make it back at this rate. They are in the fifth floor corridor, near the stairways." Upon finishing, he went and sat down in the corner of the common room.

Pansy followed Draco's demands at once, and set off to find a prefect. The other girls, getting the picture that Draco would like to be left alone, continued their gossip on the other side of the common room, leaving Malfoy to sulk by himself.

After a short while of thinking through the events that occurred today, Draco suddenly shot up again from his seat. _Wait till my father hears of this. _With that thought, he went to write a letter to his father.

* * *

-~ 5.4 ~-

The very next morning, a weary looking Dumbledore addressed all of the students at breakfast. Dumbledore still felt exhausted after dealing with fiendfyre, even after he used his Time Turner to catch up on some more rest. The Ashwinder eggs, though not rare, still made a good addition to Hogwart's potions ingredients, especially since some could be sold due to the bountiful amount left over from the fiendfyre. In fact, the entire amount was worth a small fortune, as Ashwinders are inherently dangerous, and there were safer ways to make money. Severus had asked him of the origin, of course, but was more than grateful even if he did not receive an answer.

The fake Quirrell was obliviated and sent back home shortly after the Polyjuice wore off, with Dumbledore cursing the fact that he had overslept in the chamber and could not make it back to stop the commotion even with a Time Turner. As to the real Quirrell - well there was no trace of him left. He would have to send the report to the Ministry that Quirrell was under the Imperious and Polyjuice all this time, and the real Quirrell was never at Hogwarts. He knew better, of course, but this way everything would be less complex. Rita had just recently published an article criticizing him for his role at the ICW, probably due to bribes by the Minister of Magic himself, and right now the death of a teacher at Hogwarts would not do him any favours. Everything was for the greater good, of course.

However, what really worried him was that the Philosopher's Stone was a fake - it was clearly created from a Gemino Charm. That had meant two things - either Nicholas had given a fake in the first place, the charms on which now wore off, or Voldemort had somehow taken the real one after all. From his encounter with Voldemort earlier, he knew that it was most likely the former. He had already sent an owl to request a meeting with the Flamels, but for now he also had the issue of Defence Against the Dark Arts classes to deal with. In addition, Fudge has requested another audience, and as the follow up ICW meeting was next week, Croaker was also bothering him on if he has any new findings. He was feeling too old for all this now, and he was now considering to shed one of his responsibilities, other than being the Headmaster of Hogwarts, of course.

"This is an important announcement regarding everyone's Defence Against the Dark Arts classes." started Dumbledore. "Due to unfortunate circumstances, Professor Quirrell will no longer be teaching the class. Classes in sixth and seventh years will be taught by myself until we find a suitable replacement, and classes for fifth years and below will be taught by the upper years from next week. Until then, classes for first to fifth years in Defence Against the Dark Arts are cancelled." There were cheers around the room upon hearing that.

"Notices are to be placed around the hall for anyone who missed breakfast today, but do please pass this message on to anyone you know who missed this announcement." Dumbledore continued after a pause, letting the cheering die down. Looking around, he found that his last sentence was rather irrelevant - every single seat was filled, a rare feat for breakfast. "Sixth and seventh years - this is a good opportunity to gain some experience in teaching. This will help you greatly if you wish to pursue a career in magical education the future. In fact I would think it would help whichever career you choose - as it would be a position of great responsibility. Applications are to be sent to me through your head of house, and best of luck to all those that apply."

Dumbledore also considered adding that the third floor corridor was now safe and no longer forbidden, but decided against it in case it attracted curious students as to why that was the case. He was very aware that many students had found out about the cerberus, and announcing its disappearance will attract unwanted attention as to why, especially with last night's events.

Finally, Dumbledore addressed the issue that was on most of the student's minds.

"As you all know, there was something terribly wrong about Professor Quirrell. He was in fact under the Imperius curse - one of the Unforgivables. I will only say that his actions were not his own. There will be no more on this, pending an investigation." Dumbledore finished, leading to loud murmuring around the Hall as everyone discussed their own theories.

Harry, who had expected such an announcement, wondered what effect this will have on the rest of the year. Knowing that probably any Defence class (except for ones taught by Lockhart and Umbridge) will be as good as Quirrell's, if not better, Harry put the thought to one side as he started on his breakfast. He briefly scanned the Hall as he ate - the gossiping had not died down too much, but that was expected. He briefly looked at the Slytherin table, to find Malfoy still sulking, ignored and ignoring everyone else on his table.

_I almost feel a bit of pity for Malfoy now, after I humiliated him. _Harry thought. _He is so childish at times. But maybe I won't annoy him too much this time, and can at least make acquaintances with him. Having gone through his bullying, if thats what you can call it, once was quite enough already. Besides, he not that bad a person. Oh..Draco Draco Draco. What the hell? Why I am thinking so much of Draco?_

Harry pulled Draco out from his thoughts as he turned to the staff table. Seeing Dumbledore, Harry thought back on the events leading to him stealing the stone. Hopefully the duel meant Dumbledore had to kill Quirrell, but could not allow Voldemort's spirit to escape, in which case hopefully Death will be happy that Dumbledore finally killed with the Elder Wand. Unfortunately Harry had the sinking feeling that it was probably Voldemort who actually killed Quirrell. In any case the best news was that Dumbledore did not even send Harry a single glance this morning. Most probably that meant he did not discover the fake stone, or at the very least he does not suspect Harry even if he does find that the stone is a forgery.

_I wonder how long the Gemino Charm lasts before the object it copied fades or disfigures such that it can be immediately seen as a copy. Probably related to the size and complexity of the object copied. _Harry thought. _Maybe I just go to the library to research that - but if anyone sees me that will be really bad. Maybe I will subtly ask Hermione. Maybe not. She is a first year, after all. I really should take up Arithmancy later. Hmm I really need to concentrate on the tasks I have - Sirius and Voldemort's horcruxes must take priority, closely followed by what I stupidly signed with Death. And Draco Malfoy. Wait what - why Malfoy?  
_

* * *

-~ 5.5 ~-

"Hello Harry. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked as Harry Potter made his way into the headmaster's office.

"No thanks sir." Harry decline the sweets. Earlier in the afternoon, he had been given a note by McGonagall to meet the headmaster in his office after his last class today, together with the password required to access the office. Harry was not too concerned though, as it was likely only to discuss Quirrell. He took the opportunity to look around the room, and found it vastly different to before. There were no longer the vast variety of magical instruments on his desks, and the portraits of previous headmasters nowhere to be seen. However, the Sorting Hat and various books and other possessions of Dumbledore still could be seen sitting on shelves.

"Very well, I suppose those are not to everyone's taste." Dumbledore concluded. "Please take a seat Harry."

Harry took a seat and sat silently. Looking up at Dumbledore, we saw that much of the old man's energy seems to have returned. A Time Turner was hanging from his neck, however.

Dumbledore waited for Harry to speak up, but when he did not, he started: "Well, I guess you must have heard what happened in the Great Hall yesterday."

"Yes sir, I was not in the hall at the time, but Ron and Hermione told me professor Quirrell said he was told to kill me. What was confusing was that he seemed to be confused and unaware of his surroundings." Harry said with a straight face.

"That is correct. You must understand that although magic can do weird and wonderful things, sometimes there are those who pursue darker branches of magic. Professor Quirrell was under one such curse, a dark and highly illegal curse. It is called the _Imperius Curse_, and it takes the free will from a person, allowing whoever cast the curse take complete control of professor Quirrell."

"Who could do such a thing?" Harry gasped, feigning shock.

"No need to worry, my boy." Consoled Dumbledore. "The threat has now been eliminated, and you are definitely safe."

"Thank you sir." Harry replied.

When Dumbledore saw that Harry did not have any further to add, he spoke again: "I know there are currently many rumours around, but rest assured that professor Snape has my fullest confidence. I was there myself when I dealt with the dark wizard, and professor Snape has been nothing but helpful to me. I know he is not your favourite professor, but please at least have faith in me."

_Well, that's an understatement. _Harry thought.

Dumbledore seemed to be able to pick up his thoughts, and added. "Speaking of which, please do respect professor Snape in class. I am sure he will do likewise. He has had a difficult life, much like your own, which I am extremely sorry for. Anyway, you have your next potions lesson tomorrow, I believe?"

"Yes sir."

"Now for the reason you were called here, Harry. I have a magical mirror in my possession. I would like you to tell me what you see, my boy." Dumbledore said, and then stood up.

Harry watched as the headmaster went to the back of his office to fetch the Mirror of Erised. Putting the mirror in front of Harry, he asked: "So what do you see Harry?"

"I...I...I see my family." Harry replied truthfully, understanding that Dumbledore was, in a way, testing him. For a brief second he considered how Dumbledore would react if he had said 'I see myself over your dead body holding your wand', but quickly dismissed such a thought.

"Yes Harry, the mirror shows one's true greatest desire." Dumbledore explained. After seeing Harry had told the truth, he breathed a little sigh of relief. They boy really did seem unselfish and noble. It was just unfortunate that Tom Riddle marked him.

_Perhaps he is mature enough to co-operate and will let me examine his scar. _Dumbledore thought. _Tom is much more dangerous than I thought, so perhaps I will have to cut his childhood short..._

"What do you see, headmaster?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore was brought back from his musings, and he chuckled a little. "I see the same, Harry. I see my own family. However, I also know that those who died have now passed onto their next great adventure. Though it may be tempting to look in the mirror for days on end, know that many good men have wasted themselves away in front of the mirror. So please do not look for the mirror again."

"I understand, sir." Harry replied, surprised that Dumbledore this time told him the truth.

"Very well. One last thing, Harry. The dueling club will be an extremely good opportunity for you to learn some important skills. You must realise that you were very lucky in your encounter with the troll."

_Oops...but that reminds me, I must talk to Draco..._ Harry thought, before replying: "I will consider it sir, thank you for the reminder."

"I fear there are dark times ahead, Harry. So I ask you that you attend the club, it will help you greatly."

Harry nodded and turned to leave the office, but with his hand on the door handle, he turned and asked Dumbledore one last question.

"Sir, can I practice with you?"

"Maybe one day, Harry. Maybe one day" Dumbledore smiled. "Unfortunately this is not possible at the moment, my responsibility mean that I do not have the time. But perhaps after things have calmed down a little."

_Well, that was cheeky of Dumbledore, testing me with the mirror. _Harry thought as he made his way towards the common room. _And he did not reveal anything on the actual events of last night. Can't blame him much though, as I am only eleven. And just my luck...just after I agreed with Draco I would not attend...and I may have private lessons with Dumbledore after all...ha. Draco is so cute sometimes, bet he will go off to his father again...oh I love him sometimes. Wait a minute, no I don't!  
_

* * *

-~ 5.6 ~-

Once classes resumed after the holidays, however, Harry Potter put his worries to one side as he found the classes not as mundane as he thought. Despite knowing all of the material being taught in his classes, he found that he still picked up on little things here and there, such as more efficient wand movements, theory behind spells which improved his spellcasting and subtle patterns behind spells. Even Snape's lessons have become more bearable; he had backed down on Snape's taunting and ignored him for as much as he could, instead concentrating on making his own potion. Dumbledore seemed correct, as with little to pick on, Snape had become rather bored and had started terrorising other Gryffindor students, much to Neville's horror. The only annoying aspect was that he was receiving even more attention than before.

However, the most disturbing event of the last few days was that he had dreamed of Draco, something that was rather disturbing. This was especially the case given that he had not felt mortified, yet knew that he really should be. It was very hard to describe, in any case.

_I'll help Neville with a new wand when the opportunity arrives. As for classes, it does feel very different second time around. _Putting Neville to the back of his mind, he further thought. _With the extra concentration I put in, things seem much easier. Even Potions is much easier now. Perhaps this won't be such a waste of time after all. I guess this is how Hermione is so good at picking things up – her mind is simply much sharper. Again, I wonder if it was the Horcrux interfering first time around. Luckily Dumbledore has already gotten rid of Voldemort this year, so much for the Dark Lord returning...ha. Wait a second - Draco Malfoy said there are signs the Dark Lord is returning...since when did he or Lucius get any signs...and what signs, exactly? Draco - I really need to talk to him.  
_

" – him soon. Harry! Are you listening?" Hermione's shriek interrupted his thoughts. She refrained from poking him, however, for which Harry was grateful.

"Er….no sorry. Spaced out a little again." Harry turned his head from staring at the ceiling of the Gryffindor common room to face Hermione.

Hermione's face turned to worry once again. "Are you sure you are feeling alright? You do seem to be a little different since the holidays, is something bothering you? You can always tell Ron and I – we will support you!"

"Yeah Harry, you can tell us anything. Also how are you so good at potions now? Snape hardly picks on you any more, he is picking on me and Neville instead. It's so unfair!" Ron complained.

"Neville and I, Ronald." Hermione automatically corrected. "But Harry, are you sure you are okay?"

"I am fine thanks Hermione. Just thinking more about classes and also professor Quirrell. What were you guys talking about just now?" Harry cursed himself for drifting off again, he really should be paying his friends more attention.

"Don't worry Harry. We will always look out for you, and I am sure the headmaster does too." Hermione reassured.

"Hermione just said we should visit Hagrid soon." Ron said. "Maybe he can tell us a little more on the stone. Snape is evil so I bet he was the one who cursed Quirrell, and he is still after the stone."

"Ronald! You can't just accuse a professor! And didn't you see professor Snape stunned professor Quirrell?" Hermione angrily retorted, wishing Ronald used his head more before he spoke.

Harry was just starting his thoughts on Hagrid when a visibly upset Oliver Wood made his way towards the trio.

"Potter! You forgot Quidditch practice! And our match against Hufflepuff is in just two days!" Oliver puffed.

"Er…Sorry about that. I forgot. Sorry." Harry said apologetically as he lowered his head. Oliver was bound to push him twice as hard now.

"Harry has been quite forgetful lately." Added Hermione. "Think he may have had some sort of magical flu or something which gave him severe headaches during the holidays, causing him to be forgetful. He is better now though."

Oliver's eyes flickered to Hermione and then back to Harry. "You are coming with me an hour before breakfast tomorrow morning to go through what you missed. You can't just forget about it Potter, the House Cup and more importantly the Quidditch Cup is at stake! Just because you won for us our game against Slytherin does not mean you can slack off!"

Harry sighed as he contemplated this. "Okay Captain. Sorry again for forgetting today."

Oliver sent Harry a glare before trudging off to the other Gryffindor players, who had all been watching the conversation with interest. Harry did not miss the menacing looks the rest of his Quidditch team sent, before they made their way out of the common room.

_Damn. _thought Harry. _Seems like I am not let off the hook just yet...but maybe Fred and George will leave me alone until at least after the game. I'll need to find a time to talk to them again about their shop.  
_

As the Gryffindor Quidditch team went to their respective changing rooms to freshen up, the Weasley twins started their own conversation in secret.

"Are you sure it was done, brother of mine?"

"Positive, brother of mine."

"Our plan has yet to work, and its been four days."

"Well, if there was anyone who would be resistant - "

"It would be him."

"He does send looks in the direction every time in the Hall though."

"And probably in classes they share. But that still - "

"Does not mean anything, I know."

"Unfortunate. We had everything ready too - "

"Yeah, to capture the proposal in the middle of the Great Hall - "

"Would really be awesome!"

"Oh well. I think its time - "

"For plan B. Right after - "

"The match."

"Agreed."

* * *

-~ 5.7 ~-

Harry Potter was wrong. Oliver did not push him just twice as hard, more like ten times harder.

It seemed like upsetting Oliver Wood was something Harry should never consider again. Luckily for him, however, by the end of his practice Oliver's mood had brightened considerably. Harry had passed Oliver's expectations with flying colours, and even the twins who came to watch were impressed.

"If you flew like that in our game tomorrow - "

"The Puffs would never stand a chance in a million years!"

"Did you practice during the holidays Harry?" Angelina Johnson asked. "You know you fly better than some Quidditch professionals! And you are only eleven!"

"Yeah, that was pretty amazing. I thought you would not last ten minutes under Oliver." Katie Bell added.

"Thanks guys, and Oliver really did push me - I feel like passing out already." Harry said, unable to hide a blush under the attention.

"You should get to breakfast then, and sleep early today." Alicia said, sending Oliver a glare for pushing Harry so hard. "We don't want you tiring out tomorrow."

As Harry made their way back, the twins again started their own conversation.

"So, how about it Forge?"

"Does letting him off if he catches the snitch within five minutes sound good Gred?"

"Hmm...maybe that's a little too lenient. How about a new record?"

"Done. Two minutes and seventeen seconds the target."

"Fred, George, what are you guys talking about?" Angelina asked, making both twins to face her, rather embarrassed. They had thought that with Harry's departure everyone else had left.

"Nothing much - "

"Nothing at all - "

"Miss Johnson." They said in unison.

Angelina nodded to Alicia, and yanked Fred away by his arm. Alicia subsequently stopped George in his tracks, preventing him to reunite with his twin brother. Taking Fred around the corner behind some bushes, she corned him, putting both hands either side of Fred's shoulder, preventing escape.

"So, what happened that day. Spill."

"What happened what day."

"Oh don't even pretend Fred. What happened that day when you were stunned."

Without his twin, Fred was unsure of what to say. Indeed, it was this very reason that Angelina had them separated.

"So? Talk." Angelina pressed.

Fred took a deep breathe. What should he say? The truth would be embarrassing, as well as somewhat ludicrous. So what does Angelina think happened? After a few moments thinking things through, he finally made his decision.

Unseen by the pair, Alicia had put George in a similar situation, though not as intimate, as she also tried to force out the truth from the other twin. She had agreed to Angelina's plan to separate the twins and question them, after which they will compare answers...

* * *

-~ 5.8 ~-

"Wow that looks nice Parvati. Where did you get it?" asked Susan Bones. It was the first meeting of Harry Potter's fan club this term, and news of Quirrell's departure, most probably demise, still had the whole school gossiping. All sorts of rumours were going around, and the Boy-Who-Lived was understandably involved in most of them. Although called 'The Harry Potter Fan Club' and started due to Harry's heroics on Halloween, the occasion has mostly been for the girls to socialise and share gossip. It contained a total of twenty two members, though only eleven were here today. Incidentally, it was also one of the few student groups that contained representatives from each of the four houses, even though Gryffindors made up almost half of the members.

Parvati stiffened. No one had noticed her necklace before - it was charmed so people did not notice, after all. Releasing that Susan must have noticed after she had been absentmindedly fondling the necklace in her hands, she replied: "It was a Christmas gift from my parents. Padma has one too."

"Oh." With that, Susan diverted her gaze onto Padma, who was indeed wearing an identical looking necklace. _Funny, I am sure I did not see that on Padma earlier..._

"What do you think happened to professor Quirrell?" asked Parvati, determined to divert attention from her necklace. They were in an unused classroom on the sixth floor in a remote part of the castle, found by the her twin Padma during one of her explorations of the castle.

"I bet Harry defeated him in a duel." Hannah Abbott said.

"I think Dumbledore told us the truth. Professor Quirrell really did not seem to be himself that day." Cho Chang said.

"Bet it was Snape who cursed Quirrell!" accused Lavender Brown. "He has hated Harry's guts since forever!"

"You know, I never thought of that. But the way Snape picks on Harry..." Lavender's fellow Gryffindor Sally-Anne Perks added.

"Definitely not! Did you not see that it was Snape who stunned him?" argues Daphne Greengrass, her blue eyes fixed on what she currently perceived as her enemy. "Plus he picks on Neville more!"

"He may have done those things to rid himself of suspicion!" snapped Lavender back.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Calm down girls!" The oldest member of the fan club today, a third year Hufflepuff called Olivia White intervened. Sending a stern look at Lavender, she added, "And you definitely cannot just accuse a professor because you feel like it, for the sake of a petty argument!"

"See! Snape only helped to get rid of Quirrell!" Daphne could not help but taunt her fellow classmate more.

"That's enough Daphne!" There was a brief silence as Daphne savoured victory on her face, despite being told off, while Lavender huffed in annoyance, her dislike for the Slytherin girl growing.

"Getting back on topic, any bets on tomorrow's Quidditch match?" Cho enthusiastically asked. Harry was such a natural flyer, it felt wonderful to watch him fly. Maybe he could even help her with technique so she can get a place on next year's Ravenclaw Quidditch Team for sure. Unfortunately, Cho knew that it was wishful thinking, approaching a first year, and a boy no less, for such a thing would be inconceivable.

"Harry will catch the snitch for sure!" Lavender shouted out, completely forgetting her previous argument already. "The payout the twins provide is poor for that outcome, though. But I bet we can win by over two hundred points!"

"Harry is good, but I am still backing my team to win." said Susan, with Hannah furiously nodding in support. Any previous thoughts Susan had about the twin's necklace has now been completely forgotten.

"Sorry, but from a neutral viewpoint it will be Harry's snitch to lose." the brunette Tracey Davis spoke. Despite the fact that members of the Slytherin House seldom talked to students from other houses, this club was one place where all the girls were relaxed and discussed openly many topics, regardless of house politics and blood purity.

"I second that view." said Padma, who had been rather quiet up to now.

"Where are the Gryffindor Chasers today?" asked Cho, aware of the absence of Katie, Angelina and Alicia. In fact the thing she looked forward to most for this meeting was to talk to the trio about Quidditch.

"Probably preparing for the game. Also Hermione told me Harry was busy having extra practice this morning for the upcoming match." said Parvati, bending the truth slightly. "We will win for sure!"

"You should have told us! We could have watched!" several girls shouted out all at once.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is one that mostly sets out events, so does not have as much action. Please review~**

**This is NOT a slash fic (though some slash pairings are not totally ruled out) Hopefully you all worked out why Harry is thinking so much of Draco.**

**Next Chapter: Quidditch, Draco and Harry visits Rowena's portrait again, plus the Flamels and the fate of the stone.  
**

**Last update of chapter: 15/02/2015**


	7. Chapter Six - Incomprehensible Immortals

**.**

**Chapter Six - Incomprehensible Immortals  
**

* * *

-~ 6.1 ~-

In a small cottage in Devon, a couple had just finished dinner together. It looked like an ordinary cottage, located in a cosy spot with low trees on one side and the sea on the other. However, in reality it was far from ordinary: it glowed a crimson red inside twenty four hours a day, and inside the cottage each of the four main rooms were as big as the cottage itself.

In fact, although the cottage looked non magical in nature, in theory only the most perceptive of muggles could even see the cottage. In practice however, with the added Notice Me Not runes and muggle repelling wards, the group of individuals who could perceive the location was limited to the most powerful of wizards.

Albus Dumbledore was one such wizard, as he apparated to a path close to the cottage on this cold February evening. The wind howled and the low trees swayed slightly with the wind. Even with a mild Warming Charm, Albus felt chilly as the wind cut to the bone; the winds have traveled on the waves all the way from South America, after all. As he fondly recalled his self taught muggle geography and the concept of 'fetch' and 'fetch length', he walked up the path leading to the cottage, stopping outside the garden gate.

He sighed as he opened the small front gate to let himself in. For some reason, he had a sinking feeling that after today things will never again be the same with one of his remaining friends. To his dismay, it looked like many things were developing all at once, and long gone were the days when he and Nicholas enjoyed themselves without a care in the world, playing ten pin bowling and listening to opera.

He walked up to the door, fully knowing that the wards Nicholas had placed had now alerted the Flamels to his presence. For once having the feeling that he was unwelcome here, Albus sighed once more as he knocked on the door.

The door opened slightly and the head of Nicholas Flamel poked out. "Albus. You say you have urgent business?"

"Yes, I am afraid so. May I come in to discuss it?"

"Of course." Nicholas fully opened the door, letting Dumbledore come into his home.

"Ah, so you seem to have redecorated." Started Dumbledore. He turned and nodded to Perenell, and continued, "I trust you had a good time during the festive season?"

"We had a wonderful time, thank you." Perenell Flamel answered.

"My dear, why don't you go make some warm tea for us, while Albus and I discuss matters?"

Perenell nodded, knowing that there was much her husband had to discuss with the headmaster, and went towards the kitchen.

When sure that she was out of earshot, Nicholas joked. "You see Albus, women are so obedient. Gellert would never obey you, would he? I never knew why you swung the other way, Albus. You know, at one point Perenell was quite worried about my relationship with you."

Albus chuckled, and thought of one of his great regrets: not having a partner to go through life with.

"Perhaps she has a right to be worried." Dumbledore spoke, twinkling his eyes in the process. "Unfortunately my affections was not something I could help with."

"You know, sometimes I am surprised that you did not just settle down with a girl, and have some children of your own. It is a shame that your magical abilities will not be passed on."

"I may ask you of the very same." Dumbledore retorted.

Nicholas held his tongue that he had all the time in the world left, and a moment of silence ensued.

Perenell came to his rescue, however, along with the two cups of tea. "Unfortunately, I am not very fond of children myself. Especially when Nicholas is still acts like one. And I heard that obedient remark, by the way." She gave Nicholas a stare before relaxing. "Here are also some biscuits, and also some muggle candy." She looked at Dumbledore in the eye as she spoke the last part of her sentence.

"Ah yes, I recently found this new muggle candy I really like. It is a chewy candy, but I can't quite recall the name." Dumbledore said in thought.

"You know muggles cannot quite consume them at the rate you do, Albus?" Nicholas started. "Their teeth apparently rots away."

"Yes, and there also is a profession that can cure or even better prevent this. Called dentists." Dumbledore added, thinking of Hermione and her parent's professions.

"It is funny how we are all obsessed with the non magical world. I guess they do significantly outnumber us. Speaking of which, I am going to watch my favourite muggle program on the Television." Perenell said, and made her way out of the room.

"You never told me how you got those things working with the ambient magic the cottage emits." Dumbledore stated, still in thought.

"We had decades to experiment, remember?" Nicholas said.

"Ah yes. As the saying goes, 'Time Flies'." Finished Dumbledore.

Both men went deep in thought for a few minutes, each of them slightly reluctant to discuss the matter at hand, before Nicholas asked, "So Albus, what was it that you would like to discuss?"

When Albus sent the owl requesting a urgent meeting, a few possibilities came into Nicholas' mind. The stone he gave Dumbledore could be stolen or destroyed if Albus was incompetent. Or events mean Dumbledore will discuss its destruction with him. Finally there was also the small possibility that Dumbledore had tried to use it himself. If that was the case, then he would be very disappointed, and it would serve him right that Albus would be unsuccessful.

The mood in the room darkened considerably, and after another short period of silence, Dumbledore replied, "Nicholas. I am not sure how or why, but I have found the stone to be a fake. It was made by the Gemino Charm."

Upon hearing this, Flamel's eyes widened. That was one possibility Nicholas had thought most improbable. He was a master of the Gemino Charm, and had fooled Albus many times before. He was almost certain that this time it would also go unnoticed. In fact, he had planned to use the very same charm to fake their deaths, when the time came and Dumbledore discussed destroying the stone 'for the Greater Good'.

Taking in Nicolas' reaction, Dumbledore continued, "I have considered everything, and I believe that the possibility it was replaced at Hogwarts is remote at best. I have questioned Hagrid carefully, and although he is a little clumsy, I think it unlikely that it was swapped out of his hands." Dumbledore paused and sipped his tea. "So I must ask you Nicholas, did you give me a fake stone?"

"Did you try and use the stone?" Flamel asked, avoiding the question.

"No of course not Nicholas. Was the stone charmed so it lost its properties once someone outside you and your wife used it?" Dumbledore asked in turn.

"No, nothing like that." Flamel answered, frowning in thought. _But that's a good suggestion. Perhaps I can work and invent a charm like that. _

"So Nicholas, did you give me a copy of the Philosopher's Stone?" Dumbledore asked again.

There was another paused in which the two men carefully eyed each other.

"I personally cast the charm, Albus. I could not risk the stone falling into wrong hands, after all." Flamel conceded. There was no point in lying to Albus now.

Albus felt a little better that at least Voldemort did not obtain it. However, at the same time he felt much worse, as his oldest friend did not trust him.

While Dumbledore took this in, Flamel further elaborated, "However, the charm I cast was the Gemino Charm which I personally modified. It is almost impossible to tell the two stone's apart, and the charm should not be wearing off until the summer. So how did you find out, if you did not attempt to use it?"

This time, it was Dumbledore who frowned. "It just looked old and grey, the magical red glow had completely faded. Standard fading effects of a Gemino Charm."

"That's impossible." Flamel stated. "I had put extra effort into the charm. There is no way it could have faded this quickly."

"Nevertheless, it did. Hogwarts is a strange place, Nicholas. Almost all magical items behave differently." Dumbledore said. "Plus, Tom was after it, and he had tried to cast fiendfyre on the stone."

"Voldemort was really at Hogwarts? Is this related to the Imperius Curse Quirinus Quirrell was under?"

"Yes, Tom put him under the curse, and attempted to steal the stone on his behalf. I had everything in control, though. I do not think he will be after the stone anytime soon."

"You _thought_ you had everything in control, Albus. One small mistake and not only the stone would be stolen, but magical Britain could also be brought to its knees. That is another reason why I did not give you the real stone, Albus."

Dumbledore froze at the accusation, and refrained from further mentioning additional measures he took to safeguard the stone, including the Mirror of Erised and Time Turners.

"I am sorry Albus. I know you have good intentions, but you must understand that sometimes there are flaws in your actions."

"I understand, although I do wish you had told me about the fake stone. Tom knows the stone is still out there, though, as he saw me save the stone using all of my strength."

"In that case, I thank you for your dedication to protect the stone." Flamel sipped his tea as he said, as both men relaxed a little. "But I hope you do not take it personally that I did not tell you the truth. The stone is our life, after all, and we simply could not risk its destruction. Creating it was immensely difficult, after all."

"That is another thing you never told me how to do, Nicholas." Dumbledore laughed, diffusing the tension further.

"You never asked, Albus." _And you would not approve of the methods, nor do you truly desire it. _Nicholas added in his thoughts.

They both continued to drink their tea, before Dumbledore again turned to more pressing matters.

"Unfortunately, I know Tom will return. He seeks immortality, and will not hesitate to destroy everything in his path to it." Dumbledore started. "I fear that dark times are ahead, Nicholas. Magical Britain is indeed in danger."

"Then get help, Albus."

"Unfortunately, that is more easily spoken than done. Each nation has their own problems. Britain, of course, is extremely corrupt, so convincing the Ministry dark times are ahead is next to impossible, even for someone like me. It does not help the press is also working against me. Seeking help, therefore, is futile."

"Albus. You have other acquaintances all over the world, correct? What about the wizard who helped you with obtaining Fawkes? What about the ones who plotted Grindelwald's downfall before you personally dealt with him? And everyone who you met when you went around the world half a century ago?"

"Unfortunately, they all have - "

"Their own agendas." Flamel finished for Dumbledore. "But Albus, everyone does. Get over it. Not everyone is as noble as you, helping those who are in need. Hell Albus, you even sacrificed Harry Potter's youth to protect muggles! Imagine what the Daily Prophet would make of that!"

"It was also for Harry's own protection. But that is one of my regrets, Nicholas. Although perhaps it will turn out for the better after all. Harry reminds me much of myself when I was younger. Though I fear his future would be a lot more difficult."

"Perhaps." Flamel said as he bit into a biscuit. "People look up to you, Albus. You still are greatly respected, and if you were to seek assistance, offering a little in return, there are many that will be willing to help. There is no shame in looking for help, even if it is from those who practically worship you. If there was ever a time you needed to use your power or influence, it is now."

"But I never wanted such a position of power or influence."

"Yet you hold the two most important positions in magical Britain, and you are the headmaster of the oldest and most prestigious magical school in the entire world." Flamel pointed out.

"What about you Nicholas? Although you guided me, you never took a firm role in the last Wizarding War. Will you be willing to lend a true hand when the time comes?"

"Unfortunately, my wife and I have already decided to leave Britain for France in spring, so I do not believe I can help you, Albus."

Dumbledore again had the look of surprise on his face. The Flamels have been in Devon all his life, even during the first war, and now even they were leaving. Things were definitely looking bad.

"As Voldemort is still after the stone, I am afraid we will have to go into hiding. Openly defying him will surely attract this attention to the stone once again. Staying here without going public is also a risk, so we must leave. I have the necessary experience, so we will be safe." Flamel added.

"Because of this, however, - " Dumbledore started, and hesitated, before turning his head of avoid looking at Flamel in his eye. "Would you consider destroying the stone, for the greater good?"

Flamel sighed, knowing that he would be asked such a question. "Before today, I would have told you that I would be willing to destroy it for the 'Greater Good', albeit reluctantly. Of course, the fake stone would be destroyed and we would go into hiding until the Dark Lord is completely defeated. However, destruction of the real stone is out of the question. Perhaps when we are both tired and want to pass on, after maybe a child or two. But certainly not now."

"But Nicholas, if Tom Riddle were to obtain - "

"Albus! I have already decided." Interrupted Flamel. "Besides, it is only your view of the 'Greater Good'. In the long term, it matters little to me whether you or Tom Riddle will lead magical Britain. All Dark Lords will be eventually defeated, and I am confident in my abilities to survive until then."

"But all the innocent lives at stake here - " Dumbledore tried to argue his case again, before being stopped mid speech yet again.

"It is only because you are my friend that I will do almost anything to help you. But the Philosopher's Stone is out of the question. Perhaps you can call me greedy, but immortality is not something I am willing to give up just yet. Besides, you never told me why you think that Voldemort would return, or in fact how he returned this time around. You keep too many secrets for yourself too, Albus. You must forgive me if I have my own."

Dumbledore sunk in his chair as he contemplated this. "Sometimes Nicholas, do you not think immortality is much of a curse as a blessing? I am centuries younger than you, yet I am already tired."

"Because that is the path you have chosen, Albus. I find life enjoyable with Perenell. You never had a partner to share your life with. You keep everything to yourself, and despite all your achievements, who do you go home to at the end of the day? Your phoenix?" Flame was close to shouting as he spoke.

Dumbledore's shoulders slumped as he sagged in his chair, unable to find a response. He had indeed been very lonely all these years.

"I am sorry, Nicholas. In that case I trust you will guard the stone with your life." Dumbledore finally conceded, before his eyes twinkled again. "I suggest you fake your deaths in any case, just in case. Tom would then no longer look for you."

"Thank you Albus, we will do exactly that." Flamel thought for a while before continuing. "There are a few things I would like to say to you as a friend, Albus."

Dumbledore perked up at this, and waited for Flamel to explain, listening intently.

"You are a good man, Albus. Perhaps too good for your own good. You are too forgiving. You would probably even forgive Voldemort right now. However, you are also the leader of Magical Britain. You must make choices for the best of Magical Britain, even if that means condemning individuals to death. A good man does not make a good leader, Albus. In fact, in muggle history the kindest men often make the worst leaders. Perhaps that is just you, and it would be impossible for you to become ruthless."

"But Nicholas, I had just asked you to destroy the stone for the greater good!" Dumbledore protested.

"That is not quite the same as killing us, is it? You never considered that if I refused, right?"

"Of course not - "

"Perhaps I did not choose the correct words, Albus. You are willing to make things better, and you have already done much, especially for the muggleborns. All I am saying is that, with the oncoming darkness, you must take a more active approach."

"Thank you Nicholas." said Dumbledore, after taking a moment for everything to sink in. "So what happens after you move to France? Will you be involved with Beauxbatons?"

"I am afraid that you should not look for us anymore, Albus. You have been a great friend, but times have changed."

Realising things will never be the same again, Albus replied, "I hope that in the upcoming years, when dark times come to Britain and the rest of Europe, you will do what little things you can to help."

"Of course Albus, of course. But you must seek help yourself. Waiting for Voldemort's return will do you no good. Kindness and forgiveness are virtues, but too much will only hinder you in dark times."

"And of immortality, - "

"Yes Albus, I know what you want to say. We fully know that we all have to accept our fate in the end. But there is still much for us to look forward to. Besides, there are already signs our Philosopher's Stone is becoming tainted. We could create a new one, but I think when our stone becomes unusable, that would be the sign that our time is up. And really Albus, I think we have lived long enough not to require your lectures on the subject. You were only a little boy when I first taught you about the stone.

Albus blushed slightly at the last remark, before agreeing with Nicholas. "Yes. Hmm... I remember that well..."

After reminiscing on the past with his oldest friend, he and the Flamels exchanged what they thought would be their final farewells, wishing each other well in their respective futures.

* * *

-~ 6.2 ~-

Lucius Malfoy was not happy. His attempts to reunite the Death Eaters have been completely unsuccessful since the initial meeting. His meetings with previously more neutral families have been largely rebuffed. His dark mark was fading again. All his preparations were for nothing...

But what really annoyed him was Arthur Weasley. Arthur Weasley had always been wary of him and held a grudge, as Arthur knew he had bought his way out of trouble. The worthless penniless Weasley had somehow obtained a insignificant position in the ministry, mainly due to the fact that no worthy pureblood would ever apply to any position related to muggles. That was all Dumbledore's fault, of course. His love of muggles was laughable, and his influences meant that muggle related departments were of greater importance.

_Probably so that he could put his own people in the positions. _Thought Lucius morosely. _And they think that I am corrupt..._

Arthur Weasley had proposed that any wizard possessing dark artifacts should be prosecuted, and suspect's houses are to be searched. Although the motion was still in its early days, the fool Cornelius had been quite keen on it, no doubt to again find an opportunity to praise himself with the press.

Even fast tracked though, it would take at least until late summer for the Ministry to get its act together, so he had plenty of time to 'clean up' his house. It is a pity that his Dark Arts books will have to be burnt. He had memorised them all anyway, as the Dark Lord had requested everyone to know their Dark Arts in the first war. Of course that did not mean he could not understand everything in them, but neither could most of the other followers of the Dark Lord. What worried him was the dark artifact the Dark Lord had entrusted him to take care of. Now the signs of him returning were fading again, he needed to consider what to do with it.

_Planting it with the Weasleys would be a great idea, _thought Lucius. _Its has dark magic inside, and is bound to possess or permanently harm anyone touching it without great care - perfect for Arthur's beloved daughter! Now all I need to do is to plan this carefully._

Just as he was planning, however, he was brought out of his thoughts by a ghostly voice that sent a chill down his spine.

"Luciussssss."

Lucius Malfoy turned on the spot, attempting to find the source of the voice.

"Up here, Luciusss."

Lucius looked up, and paled as he saw a ghostly spirit descend upon him.

"What are you, get out before I exorcise you!" Lucius cried out in fear. Despite understanding them, most wizards had an irrational fear of ghosts just like muggles.

"You will do no such thing, Luciusss. It is I. Your Lord Voldemort."

Lucius froze, unsure if it was really the Dark Lord or if someone was trying to trick him.

"_Morsmodio." _Voldemort incanted one of the only spells he could cast in his ghostly form, as the nature of the spell as such that it was bound to his soul.

Lucius instantly felt a searing pain in his arm containing the dark mark, confirming to him the identity of the ghostly spirit in front of him.

Regaining control of his arm which was no longer painful, he knelt down, bowed and asked, "How may I help you, my Lord?" Thinking of his recent actions, he added, "I had been convinced you would return, master, and I had tried to convince others of this fact. Should I call them now?"

"I need you to do some research for me. Nothing elsssse." Hissed the ghostly voice, which was now slowly taking a humanoid form. The only facial features that formed, however, were two red glowing eyes.

"What is it, master?"

"I need to to find out everything about the Flamelssss."

"Flamels?"

"Nicholasss and Perenell Flamel, ownersss of the Philosopher's SSStone and Elixir of Life." Voldemort confirmed. He knew that although Lucius was not the most trustworthy of his followers, he was certainly the one with the most contacts and most wealth, which are the greatest help to him at this moment. When he saw Dumbledore use all his will to protect the stone, he knew that it was unlikely the stone will become destroyed. At the same time, he doubted it will remain at Hogwarts. Which meant he needed to track down the Flamels.

"Anything else, master?"

"I need a body to possessss. Not a wizzzard, unlesss he is weak and uselesss." Voldemort knew he was weaker now, but still he desired a form to possess. He also knew that Lucius always paid great attention to his own safety, so staying in Malfoy Manor would be suitable for the moment. The only risk would be Lucius betraying him, which he would have to look out for.

"A muggle?"

"No! A magical creature or weak wizzzard. But not a sssnake." He had enough of snakes in Albania for lifetimes. Plus the lack of hands meant he could not wield magic when possessing a snake, even if he could communicate with them.

Lucius thought for a moment, before bringing up his courage and asking, "How about a House Elf?"

* * *

-~ 6.3 ~-

"Potter!"

Harry, who had been chatting to Neville, turned and saw Oliver Wood coming towards his corner of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hey, sorry for working you out so much this morning. But you kinda deserved it."

"It is okay, I understand. Ron here has been going on all day about how we will overtake the Slytherins in the House Championship for the first time in seen years if we win tomorrow." Harry said, pointing to Ron who was next to him, who had finally convinced Hermione to play a game of Wizard's Chess with him.

Hermione, meanwhile, was still oblivious to Oliver's presence. She was calculating furiously to try and wriggle out of her difficult position. However, it was clear to Harry that without knowledge of chess openings and general strategy and tactics, she did not stand a chance against Ron.

"Ha, yeah that's right. But about the match tomorrow, you were not there yesterday, so I am just letting you know that Snape will be refereeing. I forgot to mention it this morning." Oliver continued. "Hence it is extra important you catch the Snitch quickly.

Harry, of course, was not surprised. Severus Snape had refereed the last game, though the game itself only lasted five minutes last time.

"Snape? What? That can't be fair!" Ron complained.

Hermione was also brought out of her calculation, and added, "You can't play Harry. You can't risk yourself again. Pretend you are ill, or have an injury."

"What?" said Oliver Wood, shocked. "Snape is just unfair, not dangerous. Besides Harry must play. He is our only seeker, and our best hope at winning given that Snape is refereeing."

"I will definitely play, Oliver. Snape is just extra mean to me in classes, but I will prove to him my Quidditch abilities, captain."

"Good. I am counting on it." Oliver made his way to his own friends after finishing.

"Are you mad Harry?" started Ron after Oliver was gone. "Snape was probably the one who cursed Quirrell to kill you! The Quidditch game will be a perfect opportunity for him!"

"Yeah Harry, and he probably is still after the Philosopher's Stone."

"Actually, I think Dumbledore has hid the stone again. The three headed dog is no longer in the third floor corridor. And now that I stopped talking back, Snape is not doing much to me in classes."

"Yeah, I know." said Ron, who had a sour look on his face being reminded of his last Potions lesson. "But the cerberus, really? How do you know?" Ron asked.

"What, you checked it without us!" Hermione accused.

"I was just curious a couple of days ago and went to have a look."

"But Dumbledore just warned the students two weeks ago!" Ron shouted.

"Yeah, I know. But I will be fine in the match. I heard Dumbledore is coming to watch too, so I am sure I will be safe."

"Heard from who?" asked Hermione, still uncertain.

"Remember when Dumbledore asked to speak to me after the Quirrell incident?"

"Oh." Dumbledore's presence relaxed Hermione a little.

"But still, its Snape!" Ron continued to protest.

Harry shook his head at Ron's complaint, and turned to Neville again, subtly trying to convince him to obtain his own wand rather than use his father's.

* * *

-~ 6.4 ~-

Later that night, Draco Malfoy was busy boasting his wide knowledge of curses when Snape came bursting into the Slytherin common room. Their head of house looked left and right before settling his eyes on him, and made his way towards him.

"I do not normally do this, Draco, but your father said this was urgent." Snape said, handing Draco a letter. "I may be your head, but I am not here to deliver messages."

Draco nodded, surprised at the letter. Had his letters to father brought about something significant? Maybe Dumbledore's time was up? He quickly opened the letter and read it, oblivious to the fact that three girls who had been listening to him earlier were on his shoulders.

_Draco,_

_Do NOT under any circumstances call for our House Elf Dobby. Do not ask why._

_Keep up the good work with the letters, and write regular reports to me regarding Potter's behaviour._

_Do not tell anyone else of this._

_Lucius._

Upon reaching the end Draco immediately folded the letter and held it close to his chest. When he looked around, however, he knew it was already too late.

_Oh well, _He thought. _So what if a house elf dies? They die all the time. Not as if any of this was really confidential or important._

"Not a word of this to anyone, understand?" Draco said threateningly to the girls.

"Of course not, Draco." Pansy was the first to answer.

"No one would be interested in your house matters, Draco." Daphne said, somewhat curious about the letter.

"We would not speak a word on this." Finished Tracey Davis.

Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom had not seen the letter, were ignored.

"Good." Draco said, dismissing the fact that everyone was now curious about him, his father, their elf Dobby and their obsession with Potter. Well, not really the last part, as everyone was somewhat obsessed with Harry Potter, with Harry being a subject in all the the three girls' letters home.

_Father said I was doing good work for him! _Draco thought, in the meantime._ He almost never praises me! I will work hard and I will be sure to defeat Potter!_

* * *

-~ 6.5 ~-

The day of the Quidditch match against the Hufflepuffs came for Harry, and he had been just sent last wishes of luck by Ron and Hermione when he suddenly bumped into a face he thought he would never see again.

"Oh, sorry. You are Harry Potter right?"

"And you are Cedric Diggory!" Harry did not remember seeing Cedric play last time around, but then he did not really pay attention last time, when Snape and Quirrell were on his mind.

"Wow, I am impressed. I did not expect you, a famous first year, to know who I am. I should be honoured." Cedric said with surprise.

"Well, you are famous for your looks. Girls always talk about you. Are you playing Seeker?" Harry asked.

"No, Thomas Tate is. It is his last year though, so I hope to take the position next year. Today I am playing as a Chaser. But hopefully we will meet on the Quidditch pitch soon as opposing seekers!" Cedric replied, with a slight blush on his face.

"Good luck." Harry said, offering his hand.

"You too!"

A few minutes later and all fourteen players made their way onto the pitch, where Snape released the balls. To no one's surprise, the Quaffle was sent in the direction of the Hufflepuff Team, who scored past an annoyed Oliver Wood.

"And here comes the talented Angelina with the Quaffle, passing it to Alicia - oh - and surely that was a foul! Blatent blagging by Malcom Preece! Professor Snape! Surely that's a foul! That is blatent bias by the referee - "

There were boos from the Gryffindor stand at this, and some Slytherins watching cheered. The Hufflepuff stand did not make much noise though.

"A great pass to the handsome Cedric Diggory, and oh - what a great flyer he is, and he scores a brilliant goal - even I have to say that was a great team effort, but I have to point out that all this came from an unfair decision!"

"Lee Jordan! That is quite enough" McGonagall scolded, even if she was in complete agreement.

"Here's Katie Bell, oh that was a great dodge of a bludger, and she managed to successfully pass it to Angelina too! And did you all see that? Both the Weasley twins struck the bludger for increased power - perfect timing - it nearly hit Snape! Perfect use of the Dopplebeater Defence, almost worked too! And what? How is that a foul? That is completely unfair! There is nothing in the rules against using bludgers on the referees."

McGonagall shook her head, but did not reprimand Lee Jordan this time.

And here comes the only girl in the Hufflepuff team to take the penalty. Well, that its 30 - 0 to the Puffs in just two minutes! Scorer was Heidi Macavoy - she's pretty too, only if she was in Gryffin - "

"JORDAN! Stick to commentating on the game!" the Head of Gryffindor House shouted.

Unfortunately for Harry, he did not spot the snitch as fast as last time, and the Hufflepuff's lead was building up to nearly a hundred points. He took a brief glance down at the stands, were Ron and Hermione were crossing their fingers that Harry can again save the day. Malfoy was nowhere near them this time, though.

In his musings though, a bludger suddenly came towards him with great speed. With little time left, he did the only thing he could think of, he hung upside down from his Nimbus Two Thousand to avoid it, clutching hims broom tightly in the process.

"And did you all see that? That was a great move by Harry Potter to avoid the bludger! A most difficult move to execute called the Sloth Grip Roll. But he needs to get a move on if he were to save the game, its 170 - 80 now. And Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood has called a time out!" Lee Jordan finished, and everyone started chatting away about the game as each team's players gathered.

"Guys," Oliver started, "If things continue like this even catching the snitch will not save us."

"I know Oliver," said Angelina Johnson. "But Snape is so biased!"

"Angelina, you know that even in a fair game I doubt we will be leading. Their chasers are currently outplaying us. And Fred, George! Stop your grudge against Snape. Just play fair, don't give him anything to pick on. Everyone needs to raise their game! And you Potter! Don't let your mind wander. Keep searching for he snitch, Look for it as if your life depended upon it!"

"Yes Captain." Harry replied. He thought he could faintly hear the sound of Ronald Weasley complaining to Hermione in the background, but ignored them as he continued trying to look for the Snitch.

"You can't catch it now Potter, stop looking for it. It will only annoy you when it gets out of sight again." Wood said. "Weasleys! Behave yourselves. I warned you guys already that such behaviour will surely lose us the game!"

"We will - " started a Weasley twin.

"Up our game!" finished the second.

All the players took in some liquids and Oliver Wood signaled the completion of their time out.

"And the players are returning. Here comes the Quaffle, and Diggory is again the first to it. A pass to Heidi, and what? That's not a foul! Alicia did not even use her elbows! There was minimal contact!"

Harry shook his head, but as he did so he saw a golden gleam in the corner of his left eye. Without a second thought, he flew like a bullet towards the source.

"And look - Harry Potter is on the move, has he spotted the Golden Snitch? It's Heidi again to take the penalty, but look at Harry! Tate is still stationary in the meantime - and OH! There is the Snitch!"

By the time Lee Jordan had seen the snitch, Harry was only metres away from it. The Snitch changed direction sharply, moving from left to right, but it was no match for Harry's speed and experience. A moment later, Harry held the Snitch up, victorious, and the Gryffindor stand erupted.

"HARRY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE GOLDEN SNITCH! That must be a record catch after a restart! And Gryffindor wins 230 - 170! But what's this? Snape is protesting about something. What? You can't catch the Snitch during a penalty? That's BULLOCKS!"

"LEE JORDAN." Shouted McGonagall. "Mind your language!" The usually stern professor was quite ecstatic to give out any further punishment though, as she resumed her conversation with Poppy.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had made his way to behind Lee, and announced. "The capture of the Golden Snitch is indeed not prohibited during a penalty, even if many other actions are. Gryffindor has indeed won, but it is by 230 - 180, as Macavoy scored. Even if it was after the Snitch was caught, regulations mean penalties are not to be interrupted under any circumstances."

The Gryffindor stand cheered once again at the announcement, as the players made their way down. There was a look of disgust on Snape's face as people started congratulating Harry.

"Well done, Harry. That was great." Praised Oliver.

"That was awesome Harry." Katie added.

It was at this point that Cedric Diggory also made his way towards Harry.

"Well played Harry. You are certainly a very special player. I will have to improve a lot to reach your level."

"Thanks Cedric." Harry was glad to make a friend much earlier than last time, a friend that this time he was determined to save.

* * *

-~ 6.6 ~-

"Safe to talk here, brother of mine."

"Agreed. Angelina can be tricky, but here - "

"She wouldn't dare! So what did you say, brother of mine?" The twins had been closely watched by their Quidditch teammates for the past day, and it seemed that one of them were always around the corner when they tried to start a conversation. In the boys changing room, however, it was different.

"All Potter's fault, of course, brother of mine."

"Same! Stunner on Boy-Who-Backfires."

"Attempting to steal his map - "

"Great minds - "

"Think alike!"

"So now - "

"Revenge!"

Harry looked at the twins, confused.

"Harrikins! Look at yourself!" Oliver Wood had gone to celebrate, changing in record time, leaving Harry alone with the Weasleys in the boys changing room.

Harry looked around, and found that his Gryffindor robes have turned from their red and gold colours to that of silver and green.

"You hair is blonde."

"And your eyes grey."

"Your skin is also paler."

"You look just like Draco's twin!"

"What, why?" Harry asked.

"The match has finished. And - "

"Congratulations for winning it for us. But this is - "

"Payback! But we have a question."

"How did resist - "

"Our love potion?"

"Love potion?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yeah, we used Malfoy's hair."

"But you seemed to only glance at him for a bit."

"We were hoping for a confession - "

"In the middle of the Great Hall!"

"Oh." _No wonder I kept think of Draco. I must have resisted it somehow. _"I don't know. Maybe I have a natural resistance to such things?"

"Well in that case, we - "

"Gave the potion to the wrong person!"

"But as for this charm, it was specially designed by us."

"Put on your robes after you changed."

"And it won't wear off until after midnight."

"Good luck!" The twins chortled in unison, and they both started out of the changing room.

"You not really going to drug Draco with a love potion, are you?" Harry called after them.

"Well, you never know - love potions are easier to make now - "

"Especially since Ashwinder eggs are in abundance at Hogwarts for some reason."

"Someone has been playing with fire - "

" - and we are still investigating who!" Both twins sent Harry one final grin before disappearing from view, leaving Harry alone, shaking his head.

_Well that was a lame prank, _thought Harry. Of course, that was only the start of Harry's problems that night. It started with pus filled boils appearing all over his body, making it painful for him to sit or even lie on his bed. Trying to fill his stomach after missing dinner and the party, he had vomited every time he tried to consume something. Attempting to use his wand to rectify anything was worse - his hands would suddenly become canary wings, followed quickly by the rest of him, for about a minute - much like their Canary Creams. In the end it was somewhat fortunate that Harry had his invisibility cloak, as no one saw him in that state. The most impressive of them all was the curse placed on his pants - they would set on fire whenever they were exposed to light.

Ron had also came looking for him - his excuse that he was not well did not go down well, especially when Harry refused Ron to see him.

In the end, Harry only hoped that the curses would indeed wear off tomorrow.

It seemed that the very best tricks Fred and George could come up with were all used on him, and Harry had to commend them on their creativity and ability.

_Merlin, _Harry thought. _These were probably better pranks than what they sold years later - probably the best ones they could come up with. I guess they must be keeping their best inventions for themselves. Maybe I can get them to prank Dumbledore, I'll help, of course. Even the Marauder's failed to prank him - and I can disarm and take his Elder Wand as if a prank._ Harry thought along that line for a while, laying fully clothed on his bed. The idea seem to appeal to him more and more, and with a last thought he drifted off to sleep: _That's a brilliant idea, that is what I'll do. I love me. Well, maybe not. Actually, maybe I do..._

* * *

-~ 6.7 ~-

The Weasleys were annoyed that Harry had managed to hide all evening, but they had pranked him after all, so they had agreed a truce with Harry. The idea of the twin's own joke shop was also discussed, with Harry promising them funds for a third of the Weasley's shop.

Harry's mind focused back on his tasks after the Quidditch game. He was disappointed to find that Remus still had not replied to him, but he had at least approached Susan Bones and made friends with her and Hannah. Susan seemed extremely shy, and that reminded him much of what Ginny was like. Or will be like.

Between classes, he was also building up more knowledge. He had spent many nights in the library with the cloak on, looking in the Forbidden section at everything he found interesting, from Dark Arts and Dark Rituals to Dangerous Magical Creatures and ways to obtain immortality. It was texts on the latter that finally made him decide that the Philosopher's Stone would always be a source of greed and evil, and should be destroyed.

He also realised that he was drifting away from Ron and Hermione, as spending time with those two seemed rather boring to him. However, he did convince the pair that Snape is not completely evil, so he did not need to worry about the pair of them investigating the potions professor any further.

Dumbledore had not recruited a new Defence teacher, so upper students were still teaching the younger ones, and he found that those lessons were actually quite productive.

It was on a Saturday afternoon, when Hermione was at the library and Ron looking for victims in games of chess that Harry decided to destroy the stone in the Rooms of Requirement.

"Password?"

"Deathly Hallows." said Harry automatically, after making his way to the seventh floor and thinking he needed a room with a password while pacing up and down.

"You don't look very happy today." Rowena started after Harry close the door behind him.

"I don't want to talk about it. I need to get the object I stored here last time."

"Feel free to. You set the password."

A few minutes later, Harry was absentmindedly fondling the Philosopher's Stone in his hands when Rowena struck up another conversation.

"Are you going to talk or are you just going to sulk all day? And what do you plan to do with the stone?"

Harry did not immediately answer. As the turned the stone a few more times in his hand, he started, "Probably to destroy it. It will condemn two people to their deaths though. I really don't want to be responsible for their deaths, though."

"So you want to destroy for some purpose, and the side effect is killing two people? Why don't you tell me why you want to destroy such a thing, and why you hid it here in the first place?"

There was silence, before Rowena's portrait continued, "No use sulking, you one. Tell me more, and perhaps I can help you."

Harry let out a sigh, and started, "This is the Philosopher's Stone. Grants immortality by creating the Elixir of Life. Also turns metal into gold."

"I have heard of legends on such a substance, though the name is new to me. So why destroy it?"

"Immortality is evil." Harry simply said.

"What, do you think you are too tempted by it?"

"No, the Dark Lord I mentioned last time is after it. Would be really bad if he obtains it."

"How will he obtain it if you hide it here?"

Rowena had her point, but the main reason was that Harry had to destroy it or die himself. Not that he would tell her that.

"He knows of this room. In fact he hid you very own diadem here."

"What? Who?" Rowena sounded a little shocked.

"Well, it has been centuries, Rowena. The Dark Lord tricked your daughter's ghost in handing it to him.

"Well, he must have been very...persuasive. Is my diadem still here?"

"It is, but under a very dark curse."

Rowena's portrait thought for a moment, and said, "If what you say is true, young man, I will help you in whatever way I can do ensure his downfall. Also in that case you should destroy the stone, or use it for yourself."

"I think I will destroy it today. Any thoughts on ways?"

"It just looks like an ordinary magical object. Try a destructive spell. Not here in my chambers, though."

Harry nodded, and decided to take the stone to the Room of Hidden things, and placed the stone away from other objects as he decided on the spell to use. Unconsciously thinking once more of the consequences of his actions, he suppressed such thoughts and concentrated his energy into one spell.

"_Reducto." _

* * *

-~ 6.8 ~-

When he finally made his way back to the dormitories, he was surprised to find a letter addressed to him on his bed. The stone had shattered into thousands of pieces, to his mild surprise. He thought that an object of such importance would be more difficult to destroy, and half expected to have to use something like a Basilisk Fang to destroy it.

When he took a look at the letter, however, he instantly froze. His name 'Harry James Potter' was written in perfect handwriting on the front, and on the back it was sealed by the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

Taking a quick look around to make sure he was alone, he opened the letter and read:

_Harry James Potter,_

_You are a fool._

_You saw a duel between two powerful wizards, and you did not take the opportunity to watch and learn?_

_More importantly, you could have had the Elder Wand by now if you had watched, without killing your precious Dumbledore by disarming his unconscious body. The outcomes of such battles are almost always that one wizard gets killed and the other injured, or at least weakened. Such an opportunity is unlikely to repeat itself._

_Finally, did you think destroying the Philosopher's Stone would be such an easy task? I told you before the stone was never destroyed in your previous timeline, so why did you ever think the stone at Hogwarts is real?_

_Thanks to all of your actions, Dumbledore has alerted the Flamels, and they have now gone into hiding much earlier than last time._

_You need a miracle to succeed now. But then again you have always done better when in need of a miracle, and I am now strongly suspecting that you are Fate's idea of a joke._

_I will remind you that your life and the life of twelve others are at stake._

_Death_

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the new turn of events! Please review!  
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**Next Chapter Preview: See what Dobbymort is up to! Also more on Dumbledore and Harry.  
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**Last update of chapter: 28/02/2015  
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	8. Chapter Seven - House-elf Hysterics

**.**

**Chapter Seven - House-elf Hysterics**

* * *

-~ 7.1 ~-

The First Wizarding War had made Remus Lupin lose everything he had. It started with James Potter suspecting he was a spy, although he did not blame his friend for his suspicions, he had never recovered and had been in depression ever since. When he heard of the events of that fateful Halloween night, he had suddenly lost all three of his best friends. Even the Dark Lord's downfall did not cheer him up.

Struggling to adapt in either the magical or muggle world, Remus had been living in poverty for a few years now. Of course, he could use his magic subtly against muggles to give himself a better life, but his conscience would never allow him to do such a thing. Though miserable, he had never lost hope. The memory of his mother and her name had made sure of that.

So when Remus Lupin first received Harry Potter's letter, to say that he was surprised was an understatement. The sudden appearance of Harry Potter's letter reminded him of what he had lost, but it also brought a feeling of responsibility to him; after failing James Potter, he would do what he can to help his son. He also felt Harry was extremely mature for his age, and so perhaps that he was more like Lily in personality.

Replying to Harry Potter was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful. The last time he had spoken to Dumbledore more than a decade ago, the headmaster had suspected the Dark Lord was not totally defeated, and either way Harry Potter's life would be in danger from those seeking revenge. So it was quite obvious that letters from strangers are probably intercepted. Nevertheless, he knew he could not just ignore the letter and the fact that his replies did not reach their destination - even if that meant he would have to step back into the magical world once again.

Remus decided to seek out Dumbledore after the full moon last month, some three weeks after receiving the letter, when he had still not received a reply. Dumbledore had been busy then, but had promised to come back to him when he had the time.

That brought him to the present, almost a further three weeks on, where he and Dumbledore had just met in Hogsmeade. What followed was an interesting conversation with the headmaster, and he was offered to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that he would start teaching from September, and Wolfsbane would be provided to him during his time teaching there. Dumbledore was also surprised that Harry had approached him, but decided that it was good for him to be supporting figure in Harry's life, and would allow Remus's letter to reach Harry as well as allowing him to visit Hogwarts. With the full moon coming again in the following week, it was decided that a date would be arranged after that to finally meet Harry.

It was also revealed that Dumbledore had been searching him for a while now to take the defence position, and it was almost at the point where the Headmaster of Hogwarts would have to speak to muggles to find his location.

So, for the first time in almost a decade, Remus had something to look forward to when he went to sleep. Not only that, Dumbledore had also given him some funds to make his life better in the meantime, which he would carefully use to 'keep his appearances up'. It would not be acceptable for a upcoming Hogwarts professor to be dressed like he was a few days ago.

* * *

-~ 7.2 ~-

The Dark Lord was quite pissed off. Narcissa Malfoy had a screaming fit when she saw her elf Dobby sleep walk in the middle of the night when she had returned, and had given the elf quite a beating despite its protests. It was only stopped when Lucius was woken up, much to his horror. Lucius had apologised profusely for the incident, but right now Voldemort could not even cast a mild jinx on them, let alone the Cruciatus Curse. Stupid rules regarding house elves not being able to harm their masters. Not that he disagreed, of course, but right now he was possessing one...

Narcissa has been quite wisely avoiding him ever since the incident, knowing very well that under other circumstances the initial bout of fury from Voldemort would have been fatal to her. But even Voldemort will calm down and forget the incident in time. Or so she hoped.

Dobby's eyes rolled as the inner spirit that currently possessed the house elf's body thought back on the events of the last day. Voldemort had initially been reluctant to possess such a pitiful creature, but after thinking it through it occurred to him that it could in fact be a brilliant idea. House-elf magic was separate form of magic, and it could be used to achieve feats no wizard is capable of.

With the addition of a wand and forcing Lucius to set him free, Voldemort thought he could amplify the house elf's power to levels never seen before. House elves are also extremely resilient, able to withstand years upon years of torture, giving him a temporary body much longer than if he had possessed, say, a snake.

Oh, the Dark Lord had planned. Apparating to Hogwarts as an house elf, stabbing the Dumbledore and the prophecy child in the back. The old bastard will never see _that_ coming. Then with the body of Harry Potter he will be able to complete the ritual to make himself a permanent body, all that to be achieved well before the house elf's body gave out.

But Voldemort quickly found that Lucius Malfoy's most brilliant idea quickly became Malfoy's most stupid idea ever. Oh Lucius will pay dearly for that when he is truly back. So will the house elf, of course. In fact, Voldemort swore that genocide was now the answer for house elves. When he came to power, wizards would simply use muggles as servants.

Feeling another spirit nudging him, the Dark Lord thought of the other issue that was currently bothering him. Voldemort found the inner workings of the house elf's mind to be a complete and utter mess, which was not a bad thing on its own. However, what made the possession hell was the fact that the chosen elf was extremely strong willed, the one most important characteristic that should to be absent when possessing a creature. Now, after being weakened with his battle at Hogwarts a month ago, he was stuck in an insane house elf whose will was almost stronger than his own. Voldemort own will do live, however, was quite something else.

The fact that the said elf was bound to the Malfoys was quickly turning out to be the best news, as if it were to become free, the insane elf will surely break the Dark Lord's will. Consequences of such an event was unthinkable - to spend another decade in the forests of Albania was not a pleasant thought, and that would be a good outcome should the elf indeed be freed. Add in the fact that reading its mind he found the elf was insane – and creative – those were two rather dangerous combinations.

With Quirrell, Voldemort could be in control of the body and mind almost the entire time, though he had limited it to less than four hours on a normal day so Quirrell's body would not expire so rapidly. With the house elf, however, even when forcing all his will he could only be in control of the body for around ten minutes at any one time, and probably less than an hour each day when the elf was awake.

At night, he could control the body as the insane elf slept, but his coordination was a bit off, subsequently the incident with Narcissa the very first night. The elf's mind was not something he even tried to possess; it was not only extremely chaotic and possession was likely to fail, he also risked himself inheriting some house elf traits if he were somehow successful.

Plans would now have to change, as even escaping the elf's body will take too much out of him now. With the orders he gave Lucius to give to the elf, he would be safe for now. That allowed him time to build up his strength. In about a month, he will probably be able to possess the creature for longer periods of time, and probably possess a more suitable body in turn. He could not exactly approach his more loyal followers as a house elf, could he? Another reason he should have thought more carefully before acting so rashly after hearing what is now Malfoy's ludicrous idea.

When he has recovered a little more, perhaps he can use Lucius to see who in the ministry is weak minded enough for him to possess. A position of influence will suit him well. Then he will make Lucius pay dearly…

His other plan involved his most guarded secret. Knowing that Malfoy still held his diary Horcrux, he knew that he could return by choosing a suitable host for the diary. Together with the power of the diary, in theory it would mean he can return stronger than ever. However, this was something he was not too keen on. All information he had gathered on Horcruxes implied great pain when trying to assimilate split parts of the soul. Even though it was just a conjecture as this had never been attempted before (Even the creation of Horcruxes was very rare), Voldemort did not wish to risk using the Diary, unless absolutely necessary.

Forcing himself to be patient and hoping Malfoy could be mildly competent for once in the search for the stone, he felt the strange urge to clean something before realising it was time, letting the insane house elf slowly take over its own body. His last thought before his spirit rested away was why the elf had the urge to clean something in Malfoy Manor even though it absolutely despised the Malfoys and wished them to live in the filthiest place imaginable. Which ironically the elf would go and clean up...

* * *

-~ 7.3 ~-

There were gasps from around the room when the owls swooped in to deliver letters on Monday morning. Wondering what the fuss was about, Harry leaned over to Neville, who had a shocked expression on his face as he shared this copy of the Daily Prophet to read together with Harry.

_**Dumbledore Resigns his position of Supreme Mugwump**_

**By Rita Skeeter**

_The leader of the light accused of neglecting ICW duties, opts for resignation rather than a vote of confidence_

_Albus Dumbledore (_Order of Merlin (First Class), Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot) _has resigned yesterday in an emergency ICW meeting. In the second emergency meeting in two months, Dumbledore offered his resignation which was accepted. It is rumoured that his position had come increasingly under pressure in the past months, as he had not carried out his duties at the ICW, and was accused of conflict of interest in regards to an unspecified event that occurred around Christmas. The ICW is yet to select a new Supreme Mugwump, and Dumbledore will remain as the British representative at ICW meetings until the Wizengamot decides otherwise._

_Dolores Umbridge, Head of Improper Use of Magic and Secretary for the Foreign Affairs Department in the Ministry of Magic, said Dumbledore had been 'derogatory and dismissive of other countries views in the ICW meetings' and he was 'unfairly elected' in the first place, 'using his position of power to corrupt the Ministry to appoint himself as the Chief Warlock, and subsequently as Britain's representative on the ICW'. _

_Dolores, who's the youngest ever Head of Improper Use of Magic, further added that it was likely that others saw that 'Dumbledore had acted neither in the ICW's or Britain's interests, but in his own interests', which lead to other members of the ICW working against him. Dolores also requests an inquiry into his position in the Wizegamot, saying 'Surely it is time someone looked at Dumbledore's role in leading Magical Britain. Things have only gone backwards since he has been in power.'_

_Although it is unknown what was discussed during the ICW meeting, it is likely that Dumbledore saved himself from embarrassment by resigning before he is forced out. The official word from Dumbledore himself is that he resigned with 'great regret', and was 'immensely proud of what he has achieved during his tenure as Supreme Mugwump', but was forced to resign due to 'other commitments' and 'old age taking over'._

_Dumbledore's final position of authority, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, has also drew many complaints recently. Many parents feel he is not protecting Hogwarts students, with the incident of the troll and the curious case of Quirinus Quirrell, both of which are under investigation by the Ministry._

_Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has declined to comment on those two incidents and of Dumbledore's resignation when contacted._

_In light of recent events, surely even the staunchest of Dumbledore supporters will question his actions and whether he is still a suitable figure to lead Britain forwards._

_For rumours on recent events at the ICW and the current state of international politics, see page 7_

_For the 'achievements' of Albus Dumbledore, see page 9_

_For more on Dolores Umbridge, see page 12_

_For a deeper insight into Dumbledore's life, the Daily Prophet recommends readers the upcoming book, 'The life and lies of Albus Dumbledore' by Rita Skeeter._

Harry had yet to process everything in the article, before Hedwig swooped down bringing to Harry a letter of his own. It look him a minute fiddling the letter in his hands before it dawned on him the letter was from Remus. Pulling himself out of his confused state due to the Daily Prophet article, he forced himself to concentrate on Remus's reply.

_Dear Harry,_

_It was certainly a nice surprise hearing from you. Professor McGonagall is right, your father and I were the best of friends. Much has happened since, but I am glad that you are safe and in starting your first year of magical education._

_I am sorry Harry that I did not contact you earlier, but it was for your safety that I did not seek you out, as there are many dark wizards working against you. I will tell you in more detail when we meet._

_I do look forward to meeting you. I have contacted your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to arrange this for us. He will let you know the exact arrangements in time._

_Remus Lupin_

Harry cheered internally at the letter, as he was finally one step closer to freeing Sirius. The sight of seeing Scabbers a few times every week was beginning to annoy him. Now, a few planned questions directed at Remus, an unbreakable jar and a favour from Susan Bone's aunt and Sirius had a good chance of becoming free.

"Hey Harry, who wrote you that?" asked Ron, who was eating at the same time.

"Ronald! Don't talk with your mouth open!" scolded Hermione.

"Just a family friend, Ron. I might be meeting someone who knew my parents." Harry answered.

"Oh, that's wonderful Harry." Hermione concluded. She knew that Harry's parents were a sensitive topic, so refrained from asking any further questions.

"Oi mate, why haven't you signed up to the dueling club yet? First lesson starts tonight, and next month the first rounds start."

"I not really that interested." Harry replied. "I might go to the lessons to learn some things, but with Quidditch and the extra things I am trying to learn I won't have time to practice and duel."

"Oh. Can you help me though? Maybe practice with me so I get better?" Ron asked. The fact that he considered Harry serious competition, with him not competing, and instead helping him, his chances just got that much better.

"Sure Ron." Harry saw that Ron had a wide goofy grin on his face, not unlike the ones he had - he will have when he came to dating girls when he was older. Hermione, meanwhile, also had a look of approval on her face.

"Why don't you join too Hermione?"

"Oh, well I don't think I am that interested in duels. Especially with exams coming up soon." Harry saw that Hermione had a worried look on her face, and knew that taking part in the club will simply make her a target for the Slytherins due to her muggleborn status. Plus the fact that the girl had always started revising ridiculously early.

"Exams? It's not bloody well Easter yet!" Ron exclaimed, echoing Harry's thoughts.

"Ronald, there is such a thing as revision, you know. Besides, the exams will come sooner than you think. It is also going to be important in deciding which magical options courses we take from third year."

Harry and Ron both rolled their eyes as they continued their conversation onto other topics before making their way for their first lessons of the day.

* * *

-~ 7.4 ~-

Dobby was feeling rather down, even it there was a small silver lining. He was aware of the other spirit inside him, which hung onto his body for dear life, currently residing in a corner of his head. He was also aware that the spirit belonged to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Obtaining help from others was out of the question - he had been forbidden to refer to him as 'Voldymort' or 'You-Know-Who' or 'Dark Lord', and he was also forbidden to say or imply in any way there is another mind inside his body.

On the other hand, he did not feel threatened by the spirit: it was clearly very weak and did not suit being in his body anyway. The best news, however, was the fact that the Malfoy household practically worshipped him now, and never hit or abused him. To a house elf who had never experienced change on such a scale, it was rather strange. It almost made him miss his abusive past.

In fact, he found that the Dark Lord's mind seemed to take over when his own mind switched off, so if he was ever abused he would simply relax control of his body, just like he did when Narcissa gave him the beating that very first day the bad spirit came. So yes - he actually missed his abusive past now that his mind can choose not to suffer the abuse.

With the restriction of remaining a house elf belonging to the Malfoys, he was free to do whatever he wanted - which was cooking. And scrubbing the toilets with magic. And mopping the floor with an enchanted broom. And clean all the cupboards and drawers he was never allowed to touch before. Well, most of them, anyway. There were still a few places off limits, and Lucius had ordered him not to go to those places. Those places must be very dirty indeed.

Without restrictions on his cleaning methods, he could now finish his tasks earlier and earlier. That made time for secondary projects – something completely new to him, but for now the time was just spent on ideas.

Dobby also knew that despite the fact he was free do to whatever he liked, he was still not truly free. He still desired it, and from his masters' conversations it was clear this was even more unlikely now. But at least he was getting paid now, as Lucius was tired of his increased nagging on getting paid. He further annoyed Lucius by arguing the pay offered was too much, and 'un-house-elf-worthy', and Lucius's argument of not having smaller change was 'not respectful to himself or his elf'.

The worst news was that from Voldemort's murderous thoughts, Dobby knew that house elves will be wiped out if the Dark Lord came to power again. If only Harry Potter, defeater of 'bad bad master', will come and save him. Maybe then he could somehow let Sir Harry Potter know.

Meanwhile, Narcissa Malfoy's little excursion in her garden meant there were now some muddy footprints on around the entrance and on the entrance mat. He would not be a very good house elf now, would he, if he were not to clean it up immediately? Oh the joys of being free to do what he liked…

* * *

-~ 7.5 ~-

Dumbledore looked at the Daily Prophet with distaste. Rita was never a good person, but she was an extremely good journalist, always writing for the readers. Dumbledore had always suspected that she had some sort of magical device or method unknown to him to eavesdrop; she always seemed to hear conversations she is not part of. Dumbledore remembered that one of her very first articles after her book on Armando Dippet was an article proclaiming himself to be the saviour of the wizarding world. That had raised the nations spirits somewhat during the first war, something he had yet to thank her for. But people get tired of reading about heroes sooner than of villains, and soon all her articles accused him of something or other, as readers tried to get every strip of gossip available on himself. He actually had to use his influence to intervene on a couple of occasions when articles tread too closely on the subject of Grindelwald.

In the past, nothing substantial ever arose, but this time he felt that he would be under the microscope for a much longer period. Ah... the microscope. One of the muggle inventions he had used to study magic in more detail. He still had it somewhere...

Back to tasks at hand though, Dumbledore considered what role Remus Lupin had to play. His sudden appearance definitely helps, but with the curse on the Defence position he was unsure how much help he would be. At least Lockhart can be avoided for one more year, though. His initial talk with Lockhart implied the fraud would rather finish his latest book, but with certain agreements in place he would be willing to teach next year. Tom's curse on the Defence position was making recruiting defence teachers more difficult by the year, and if this continues the Ministry would be forced to appoint someone. Dumbledore knew Remus Lupin would make a good teacher though, even if it will just be for one year.

The biggest problem with Lupin was his status as a werewolf. His time as a student here almost ended with disaster, and it had taken quite some persuasion on his behalf for Severus to agree to the arrangement for the next school year. Of course, it helped that of the Marauders Severus disliked Lupin the least, even though Lupin had nearly killed Severus that fateful night.

As with Harry - well he was surprised that Harry had contacted Lupin in the first place. He would have to ask about that when he has the time - but alas - time is a precious commodity these days. At least his resignation has given him some more of it, but as he would still be the representative he would still be required to attend meetings. In fact, he was quite curious who would be the next Supreme Mugwump.

Back to Harry - his performances in class has been quite outstanding after Christmas. Dumbledore had actually expected that from Harry the very first day he came, but it seemed that his time at the Dursleys had restricted his magic. At least he has completely recovered now, and was passing all his classes with flying colours.

Harry's fate, however, was also something that worried Dumbledore. The fact that Tom had marked him meant that traces of Dark magic was detectable on his scar. Though such traces seemed to have faded since Christmas, he was still unsure on what effect the events of that Halloween will have on Harry's later life. The prophecy means he will never be free until the Dark Lord is completely defeated. It also meant that Harry will have to stay at the Dursleys, for both his own protection and for the sake of the Dursleys.

As for Tom Riddle - well he was still trying to find out the basis of his return. His greatest fear, of course, was Tom's use of Horcruxes. Without proof, however, he still hung on to hope that only some ancient necromantic ritual was used, allowing his spirit to roam and possess bodies before expiring in time. Of course, another likely scenario was using magic he did not know of. Dumbledore had never read too much into the Dark Arts, and some of books were so distateful that he never read beyond the first two lines before burning them, something he had regretted when Tom came to power. Knowledge is power after all, and without knowing the enemy the war would be extremely hard to fight. The wizarding world has already been lucky that the Potters had stopped them in the first war, but such an unlikely set of circumstances occurring again would be remote at best. Plus, knowing Voldemort, the next time he rises he will take…precautions.

Due to the prophecy, that meant most of the hope would again fall on Harry Potter - oh poor poor Harry... Dumbledore knew that he had to prepare Harry in time, and the very first step will have to be understanding the nature of Tom's return and Tom's power. But for now, it would be best for Harry to enjoy what is left of his childhood while slowly and gradually helping him achieve his ultimate destiny. After all, being the Chosen One in the prophecy was such a terrible burden, the fact that he is just a child made it so much worse.

As Dumbledore finished his last lemon drop from his current collection, he put a reminder in his head to obtain some more before moving on to the item which had quickly became his greatest worry.

He had been thinking about obtaining help ever since Flamel's suggestion, and his mind had kept going back to one person. Perhaps he will also look to others when the time came, but for now his thoughts were occupied. He read the letter from his spy which was sent at the beginning of the year again, for what was perhaps the twentieth time today.

Dumbledore stared as he read the most important sentences over and over again.

_"...clear that he is dying..."_

_"...he has shown remorse and asked for forgiveness..."_

* * *

-~ 7.6 ~-

Lucius Malfoy was also feeling a little depressed. He simply did not know what to do with his Dark Lord master inside the house elf, especially when the house elf had control of its own body for most of the day.

His wife Narcissa has also been extremely anxious regarding their current predicament, she has been treading carefully to avoid the house elf, which for the most part has been unsuccessful. So instead she spent most of her time outside the house. Not that Lucius cared, of course. They had lost the emotional side in the marriage for a long time now.

As for the elf, well, forcing the elf to do daily tasks for them was out of the question. He had intended to obtain a new elf, but surprisingly Dobby was still cleaning up his house even without orders. In fact, Malfoy Manor was impeccably clean now, and even Narcissa's flowers in her garden were flourishing. Lucius thought it was probably the house elf's amusing way to spite him. But galleons saved were galleons saved, so there was not much to complain on that.

One small downside was that it deprived him the fun of abusing his elf, and the fact the profanities came from the elf on a more regular basis now given that the elf was no longer punished. Due to the incident involving his wife, the Dark Lord probably agreed with some of the things the elf said.

This leads to his current dilemma. Lucius wanted to get rid of both the elf and the Dark Lord now. Knowing the Dark Lord's fondness of the Cruciatus Curse, Lucius knew it was only because he was in his elf's body that he was not suffering from it. Even though he had been quite keen on his return a few months ago, things were clearly not working out in favour of his Dark Lord, who seemed weaker than ever. Keeping Voldemort at Malfoy Manor was simply keeping a ticking time bomb, so Lucius knew he had to act when the time came, though for now everything seemed relatively stable.

Of course, finding the Flamels would probably satisfy his Lord enough not to punish him. Maybe even reward him. However, that was easier said than done. He had spent almost a thousand Galleons on the search now, and the only clue he has so far is that the Flamels are now somewhere in France. Under a Fidelius Charm.

Betraying the Dark Lord to the light was now increasingly becoming the path which is in the best interests of himself and his family. That also was easier said than done, as he knew little about the nature of the Dark Lord's return. Besides, who was going to believe that the Dark Lord is in fact his house elf?

The only other option was to run away to somewhere free of the Dark Lord's control. Maybe they could relocate to Bulgaria? No, definitely not, Durmstrang was out of the question. Though perhaps a better school than Hogwarts to attend for Draco, it was a place that would definitely be under the influence of the Dark Lord should he rise. So perhaps Asia? Africa? America? Well if so they would have some adapting to do.

There was one other thing that has been making him quite uneasy in recent days. He would find Dobby staring intensely at him whenever he was deep in thought, often about the Dark Lord. It seemed that the elf knew what he was thinking. As he turned around, he jumped in shock to see the said elf staring at him.

"Did you want something Dobby?" Lucius asked politely, picking himself up a bit, though his voice belied fear.

"No master. Dobby is waiting for nasty master, Dobby is."

"Waiting for what?" Lucius was already starting to get annoyed with the elf's staring and his language. He knew the Dark Lord would be conscious of this conversation and could take over at any moment, so he dared not hit the elf or even speak back in the same tone.

"Waiting for nasty master to move."

"Oh. Am I in your way?" Lucius asked with a frown.

"No master. Floor under master's shoes is dirty."

Lucius shook his head as he moved a few steps away, as he saw the elf summon his magical mop which cleaned the faint footprints his shoes made. In less than thirty seconds, the elf was staring at him again.

"What is it this time?"

"Dobby is waiting for nasty master, Dobby is."

"Oh for Merlin's sake lick my shoes clean already!"

"Yes master!" Dobby replied with a gleam in his eye, and started licking before Lucius could process further thoughts, followed by a scream of: "_LUCIUSSS!_"

_Oh Merlin, _thought Lucius. _Did I just order the Dark Lord to lick my shoes? _

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Writers block. Also unsure about my commitment to this particular story. I am posting what I already wrote for this story, and it may be possible it will just stay that way. Kind of regretting starting in first year...  
**

**I have ideas and I am thinking to start another story starting in Harry's fourth/fifth year, and another to start right after Voldemort's fall and the books end.**


	9. Interlude - The Tower

**.**

**Interlude**

* * *

**Greater Good**

Albus Dumbledore approach the North Tower in deep thought on the art of Divination. While it was certainly not his favourite branch of magic, it was certainly one of the most mysterious. Whole kingdoms have risen and fallen based on prophecies from the seers who possessed the Inner eye.

Sybill Trelawney was one such seer. Even though Dumbledore knew Sybill herself had very poor grasp of this branch of magic and only knew the basics of divination methods, her Inner Eye was a gift that could not be underestimated.

"Oh Albus. I r-read the tea leaves this morning. They told me of your - of your visit." Trelawney gurgled, her speech incoherent.

Dumbledore sighed at the woman in front of him, bottles of sherry littered across the classroom floor. Sybill was very much drunk. Again. It was becoming a bad habit of hers, and one that only a select few staff knew about. Knowing that Trelawney was often depressed and lonely, Albus had turned much of a blind eye to Sybill's drinking. At least it was a Hogsmeade weekend so she would be out of sight from the students, and she would not need to teach until tomorrow afternoon.

Sybill had friends amongst the staff, of course, but Dumbledore was pretty sure there was no one Sybill could confide in with her numerous insecurities. Given that most of the staff and all of the students did not take her seriously, Dumbledore knew that in a way he has let his Divinations teacher down. He had never really visited Sybill as a friend and supported her, but alas he was a busy man, though in light of recent events he had a little less responsibility and a little more time.

Trelawney had been quite thrilled at first when she had landed the Divinations position at Hogwarts, but that had quickly turned sour after the war with Voldemort was over when it became quite apparent that she was not the most competent of teachers. With a few incentives, Albus had managed to keep the Divinations professor at Hogwarts all these years, mainly for her own protection.

Of course, Albus also hoped that her seer blood will provide more useful prophecies to use in the war. While no further prophecies has been provided, some little predictions here and there have become true. Well, some has turned out not to be true, but Albus had realised patterns on the likeliness of a particular prediction coming true over the years.

"Hello Sybill. How are you doing?" Dumbledore asked sincerely.

The Divinations teacher stared at the Headmaster intently for a few seconds, before letting her gaze wander. "You want something from me."

Dumbledore sighed once more at the truth in her statement. Casting some privacy charms around him and a Notice-Me-not charm on the door of the Divination classroom, he sat down opposite the seer. Dumbledore did not take delight in the fact that he was about to take advantage of her intoxicated state, but satisfied his guilty conscience knowing that it was for the greater good.

* * *

**The Tower**

"So, a T-tarot reading?" Sybill asked, drunker than before. Due to her frequent drinking, she has build up quite a tolerance to alcohol, and could think quite well even now, even if her physical actions were becoming quite clumsy.

She just had a lovely long conversation together with some of the best wine she had ever tasted with Albus Dumbledore. It was the first such conversation between the two. Something deep inside her told her that it was because Albus desired something from her, but her Inner Eye was not something she could just turn on. Even if she could, she probably would not let herself be manipulated so easily. Dumbledore had never been so nice to her before, but instead rather neglected her. She firmly thought that Albus would not get anything from her easily, even if she did not have much to offer.

_But a Tarot reading... that is nothing major. Just maybe I'd would agree, if Albus played his cards right. No pun intended. _Sybill thought.

"Yes, dear Sybill. I am getting older and wearier with each passing day, and now that I have lost the position at the ICW, I will like to indulge more in the pleasantries of life. Would you like some more wine?"

"Yesss pleassse." Sybill gratefully held out her glass, using what is left of her will to hold it as steadily as possible. If it not were for the fact that she knew Albus had no interest in women, she would be suspicious at the further offering of wine as an attempt of seduction. Even so, she was a bit wary, as there are many ways, mainly with the use of potions, that could flare up lost or even previously absent desires.

"Al-bus, why - why a tarot r-reading?" asked Sybill after a moment, when both of them had taken a few more sips of wine.

"Well, Sybill, I have some decisions to make. I am looking for some directions; a hint perhaps. Also, there is one card in the Tarot deck that is of particular significance to me right now, so in a way I am also satisfying my curiosity." Dumbledore answered truthfully.

"Do not speak of the card!" Sybill almost shouted out, surpringly coherent for once. "If you w-wish for a tru-er r-reading, do not tell of the c-card!" she continued in a much more slurred voice.

"Yes, I understand Sybill. I would not have told you of the particular card in any case. In fact I had not initially intended to tell you I had one in mind at all. I guess this is what a little alcohol does to one." Dumbledore calmly replied, his eyes twinkling at Sybill.

"I h-have one in mind toooo... it al-ways comes uuup when I am re-reseaching yourrr demissse." Sybill blurted out. _Ooooops - that slipped out, oh well._

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at this new information, his interest peaking. Although he thought of it as somewhat distasteful, he could not really blame Sybill, and suspected she did readings of each staff member's demise at some point. After all, she was a depressed Divinations professor who had a rather unhealthy habit of prediction student's demises each year. Thankfully, no one has died so far, and no staff has ever been predicted a demise even with the yearly changes in DADA professors. That was another reason he had been quite firm at demanding Sybill stay. The thought of the Dark Lord abusing the seer's predicted deaths was quite a horrifying thought.

While Dumbledore was in his musings, Sybill had gone to collect her Tarot cards, and now was shuffling the pack.

"Just a single card from the deck?" she asked clearly, now in Tarot reading mode.

"Yes."

Sybill clumsily laid the cards out on the table and closed her eyes. "Sit opposite me, Albus. Let me look into you, look into your sssoul." There was something rather pleasant at the way she said it. She was in command - and in command of the Albus Dumbledore, no less!

Dumbledore obliged, relaxing into the seat opposite Sybill. "I am ready."

"Very well." Sybill spread out the cards, concentrated and muttered something unintelligible in a low voice before picking out a card. Opening her eyes, she turned over the card, when both of them gasped.

"The Tower."

* * *

**Gellert Grindelwald**

_"Major Arcana. Also known as The Lightning Struck Tower or The D-Dark Tower."_

_"I take it from your reaction it was also the card you had in mind?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Well, that is indeed intriguing. Very intriguing. May I ask you if had a vision of which particular tower, if that is relevant?"_

_"Hogwarts."_

_"Hmm. Well that is not the tower I had in mind. Perhaps thankfully so, too."_

_"Wh-Which one did you have in m-mind?"_

_"That is not important. Are there are other interpretations?"_

_" Well, we are in the North Tower r-right now. Tallest part too. Perhaps a fall from your h-height in power. Other than that this it may means s-significant change, as you must also know. Ch-hange mos-stly for the w-worse. A d-dark card in a reading. I do hope d-dark times are not ahead."_

_"You say it is also know as the Dark Tower?"_

_"Yes, due to the ominous na-nature of the card."_

_"Could it mean a physically Dark Tower?"_

_"It c-could mean anything, Albus."_

_"And the height of the tower?"_

_"More of-ften than not... the highest tower, Albus."_

Dumbledore replayed his conversation with Sybill in his head several times in the privacy of his own chambers at Hogwarts that evening.

The Tarot reading had been most intriguing, and ensuring Sybill was very much drunk almost guaranteed its accuracy. Albus had learned over the years that Sybill's accuracies in her predictions was proportional to her intoxication state. It was almost as if her own concious mind was holding her back from greatness in the arts of Divination.

In fact, Albus was not in the least upset to learn that Sybill had predicted his own demise in a tower at Hogwarts, if that is how she interpreted her own readings. The fact that his own chambers and office was in the Headmaster's Tower meant that he could well have predicted himself that he would die in a tower at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was now his home, especially after what happened to Ariana all those years ago.

But for this reading too come up with The Tower, when he had request some direction... well his mind was made up now. He looked at the picture he held in his hands and interpreted the reading made today in his own way.

The Dark Tower. The Tower of Nurmengard. And Gellert Grindelwald resided in the highest cell in that jet black tower.

* * *

**A/N: A little interlude regarding Grindelwald that was foreshadowed before. I think that is the first part of the story complete.  
**

**Future updates may be slow, but I think I would like to at least finish this first before moving onto other ideas.**


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